Art Moves: A Conversation with Thom Oosterhof

We sat down with Thom Oosterhof, the independent curator behind the hotel's art collection, to discuss wandering through nature, the magic of emerging talent, and why small galleries make the biggest impact.

You've had quite a journey to becoming a curator. Tell us how you got here.

I’m an independent art curator, working with galleries all over the world, introducing emerging and established artists to new regions and regions to new artists. It's a career full of freedom which allows me to roam, and I get to discover the work of incredible emerging artists while giving exciting emerging talent new opportunities and markets to connect with. 

But originally, I came from real estate development, a completely different world. I had no experience or even interest really in art, and then ten or twelve years ago, I saw this one incredible painting. It literally stopped me in my tracks and was the single catalyst to me becoming obsessed with art and starting to explore. After a while, I put on my own show in Amsterdam, started connecting with people on Instagram, and it snowballed from there. It's really been a lesson in where passion can take you when you indulge it.

What's exciting about working in a hotel is you have so many different spaces to play with. When I thought about the exterior of the hotel, it's on a huge intersection with incredible visibility and I wanted to make the most of that, so it would be head-turning and have impact from the moment you see it. The concept that runs throughout is called ‘Wanderers’ and it’s Berlin being a city that’s perpetually in motion, but also about a return to nature and how we dissolve into nature. Hotels are such interesting places that represent a unique opportunity to slow down. Take for example the library, or when you’re having a drink in the bar, or taking half an hour to chill in your bedroom. I want to encourage reflection in these moments, to create a space where you're not just passing through but you’re actually potentially finding something out about yourself. 

You mentioned 'Wanderers' as the guiding concept for the art in the hotel. What does that mean in practice?

It comes from that idea of wandering through nature and the effects that has on a person. There’s this painting by German artist Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, that communicates a reflective, philosophical, contemplative feeling that I was very inspired by. Throughout the hotel, especially in the lobby and library, you'll see these gorgeous blues, greens, colours that calm the environment down. The artwork in all the spaces through the hotel encourages you to get curious, to lean in, maybe even to put away your phone and get back into your own nature.

All the works have organic forms. There's a natural response to them, but it's hard to say exactly what you're looking at sometimes. Take Kanta Kimura's piece, Untitled, 2025 - on first look, you might think it's a mountain range, but actually, look again. Perhaps it's animal scales, or waves. Paintings evolve over time, and so do your feelings about them. My hope is that you'll come through the lobby time and time again, and the image will shift depending on where you are in your own life. Depending on how you’ve wandered through time and space yourself. 

Berlin's art scene is famously rich. How do you see The Dean fitting into that landscape?

We want to be part of the young, exciting emerging scene that exists here. Berlin has this strong institutional environment, the blue-chip galleries, the middle tier, but we're really focusing on emerging artists. There's that saying about history entering through small studios, not big institutions that I love, and it’s about these new ideas, and concepts that really matter coming up through smaller spaces and filtering upwards. That's where the conversations are interesting, where people are at the start of their careers and super ambitious and there's a buzz about it all.

What excites you most about this project at The Dean Berlin, and why does getting people into art matter so much to you?

Where this ends up going! Since we started this whole conversation, everyone's been very much on the same page and in the right place and honestly, the potential is enormous. Now I’m so excited to see it turn into reality. 

But genuinely, a major part of why I do this is about getting people into art who might not think it's for them. It goes back to my own beginnings, when I had no interest in it myself until one spark brought my life in this amazing direction. It opened my whole worldview and affected me in so many ways I didn’t expect and could never have imagined. Seeing what it's done for me, I want to share that with other people. That's the real project.

Come see the curation at The Dean Berlin for yourself. Book your stay and join us in very charming Charlottenburg.