The IGBK unites Germany's three most important supra-regional artist associations on the basis of equality: Bundesverband Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler (BBK - Federal Association of Artists), Deutscher Künstlerbund (German Artists' Association) and Verband der Gemeinschaften der Künstlerinnen und Kunstfördernden (GEDOK - Federation of Women Artists and Patrons of the Arts). IGBK therefore represents more than 14,000 visual artists in Germany. The association was founded in 1957 as the German National Committee of the International Association of Art (IAA).