Tuesday, November 24, 2009

THE ART WORLD MOST POWERFUL 50 PEOPLE - by John Powell

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                                                                                                                             THE ART WORLD MOST POWERFUL 50 PEOPLE

 

 

 

 

 

  When you think of 20th Century Art , who first comes to your mind? Picasso, might be the first who comes to your mind? Well, what if i were to list a few names of the greatest figures of 20th-century art, such as:  Bonnard, Brancusi, Braque, Dubuffet, Giacometti, Gris, Leger, Matisse and Picasso.Who would you remember first/most? What if i were to further drag your memory for a walk and asked you about a few more instances,like, when restorers  attempted to clean, 'THE MONA LISA' and it was 'FEARED' that, if it gets 'DAMAGED',it would be a NATIONAL DISGRACE...;You remember that intent? Or,in (MADRID) in 1997 when Bilbao was to Bid for (Guernica) and it was said that ,'The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has touched a political and cultural nerve in Spain by announcing that it wants to borrow Pablo Picasso's Guernica from the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid to celebrate its opening'.Did you know it was originally titled 'The Horrors of War (after Goya's famous work)?

 

 

 

 Lets touch your nerves,who are they? AS EXPECTED,THE BIENNIAL ASSESSMENT OF POWER IN THE ART WORLD RAISED A BUMPER CROP OF HACKLES:  (quote)"Could i suggest that a much more interesting survey would be of "the 50 most knowledgeable people in the art world?"  queried venerable British dealer Leslie Waddington. "I wonder how many of those who are listed as 'powerful' would get into that second category."(end quote); (quote), "All 50 of the most powerful people in the art world should be artists, " Opined David Ross,director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. "And quite frankly I'd be very happy with that state of affaire." (end quote);

"This tends to be about money," objected Robert Storr,curator of the department of painting and sculpture at New York's Museum of Modern Art. "The power of ideas is equally the power of economics." "I'll tell you who's powerful," declared New York dealer Andre Emmerich. "The different curators and directors who arrange the exhibitions. The museums have a lot to do with validating the latest fashion." All of these people,in their own way have a point.Which is why putting together a survey like this every two years or so can be both a challege an ordeal-but never a bore.Some in the art world were delighted to be on the list and to talk to us freely about new candidates,said (Ann Landi); While others were reluctant and didn't return calls including artists,who never cared about being in a 'who's who,' "some told ARTnews."But when spy magazine started doing a 'who's no longer  whom' a few years back, those who didn't returned calls dreaded being listed." 

 

                                                                                                                                 

In most fields and endeavors,it's fairly easy to say who has the power.Forbes lists the richest; technology magazines look for the most innovative;But the relatively small and ever-fluctuating network that invests its life-blood in art operates on other criteria and those can change from generation to generation.Thirty years ago,for example,a handful of art critics wielded enormous influence;Today that's just a curious blip in the continuum. ANN LANDI said, (quote) The job would certainly be a lot simpler if we confined the list to artists but who would ever see their work if it were not for the dealers?

And how would a larger public come to take note if museum curators weren't scouring galleries and studios?If collectors didn't do their passionate best to assemble outstanding works through time,  today, the economic bottom would fall out. And though most critics no longer have the power to make or break reputation,the press and among the art-loving public are indebted to them for their legs and eyes. So these are the factors that were taking into account in naming "the 50 most powerful": money and taste;creativity and innovation;market muscle and brain power; the recognition of the new and the integrity of commitment. And sometimes-even if we like to think that esthetics transcends timeliness-it  all boils down to the obstinate newshound's favorite question: (Who's hot and who's not?   

 

 

                  "THE 50"              * WILLIAM AQUAVELLA (Dealer,(New York) One of the few who favored to conduct auctions at Sotheby's "conducted some major private deals with museums and collectors throughout the world."His show of Lucian Freud's latest work was widely praised; *JEAN-CHRISTOPHE AMMANN Director, Museum of Modern Art,Frankfurt "I find it amazing how many extraordinary artists there are who are known only to a few people,"says the tenacious Ammann ,looking ahead,the director quotes Malraux:"The 21st century will be intellectual,or it will not be at all."*ERNST BEYELER Dealer and collector,Basel plans to open the museum housing his legendary collection of 20th-century art in  the Basel suburb of Riehem,he organized a show of 50 paintings and sculptures from private Swiss collections for the Mitsukoshi Museum in Tokyo ,he also loves Barnett Newman and Jackson Pollock,whose paintings he has added to his own holdings.

 

 

*ELI BROAD Collector,Los Angeles   The chairman and executive officer of SunAmerica Financial services Company oversees not one but three collections.There is the personal one,for which he and his wife Edyth commissioned a 60-ton sculpture from Richard Serra and acquired important works by Calder, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg and Picasso,among others. Then there is the family foundation,offering a "lending library" to more than 2000 museums and university galleries.The financier is also the founding chairman of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. A collector since the 1960s,"He's one of the steadiest buyers and supposters of contemporary art,year in and year out," *DIANA D.BROOKS President and chief executive officer,Sotheby's Holdings, Inc., New York  who rose rapidly through the ranks of the 250-year old auction house, Brooks has been charged with guiding Sotheby's into the 21st century .Splitting of the Pierre Matisse Gallery with William Acquavella.Sotheby's profile should be higher still in the contemporary market,though some people are alarmed at the blurring of divisions between the big auction houses and major galleries."Brooks pulled off the Onassis auction,which she calls one of the highpoint of Sotheby's history."

 

 

  *FRANCOISE CACHIN Director of French National Museum ,Paris. The scholarly granddaughter  of Paul Signac has been overseer of some 1,000 art institutetions in France,including the Louvre and Versailles.She has being fighting to increase the acquistions budget for museums and taking steps to return Nasi-confiscated artworks to their rightful owners. * LEO CASTELLI  Dealer,New York.He has a starstudded stable that includes Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Bruce Nauman and Frank Stella."The great rush to inherit the Castelli mantle is not going to happen,"remarks one curator. "There's no one who will be able to do it."  * GERMANO CELANT Curator of Contemporary Art, Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum,New York Widely respected for his extraordinary intellect,the founder of the arte povera movement in Italy and has turned his attentions to examining culture in its broadest sense. He 's brought his wide-ranging curiosity,straddling art both high and low,to exhibitions on the "Italian Metamorphosis," Claes  Oldenburg and most extravagantly, to the first fashion and art biennial in Florence. His ultimate goal,as he puts it, is to instigate a kind of "jam session of the art."

 

 

 *CHUCK CLOSE Artist,New York After Close appeared on ARTNews last list,one of his friends,a painter,approached him and demanded, (quote) "if you're so goddamned powerful,why haven't you done anything for me?" Close was dumbfounded but curator Robert Storr of the Museum of Modern Art claims the painter does more for colleagues than do most artists. "He spends a lot of time actively involved with foundations. "He's done a lot to open it up for younger artists." As for Close's own accomplishments, a full dress retrospective  at the Modern in the fall of 1998 will sum up nearly three decades of Close encounters with the human face.* PAULA COOPER Dealer,New York After 28 years in SoHo the soft-spoken dealer,who commands almost universal admiration,she's not afraid to go against the grain,has multiple exhibitions, in-depth historical presentations. 

 

 

* CHRISTOPHER DAVIDGE Chief Executive Officer,Christie's International London He is the third generation of his family to work at Christie's.His street savvy,innate diplomatic skills and workaholic habits secured his rise to managing director in 1989 and chief executive officer in 1993.(quote) "I very never been attracted to the art side of the business," says the then 50-year-old chairman.end (quote) But his commercial talents have protected the auction house from takeovers, established it as a force in asia and pushed its share of the international fine-art market to 49 percent,taking Christie's head-to-head with rival Sotheby's for the first time. * PHILIPPE DE MONTEBELLO  (past) Director,the Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York The uncrowned Prince of Central Park,de Montebello continues to lead his institution towards the millennium.(NB). The current director of the Met/museum is Thomas P. Campbell-as of January 2009.*ANNE D'HARNONCOURT Director and chief executive officer,Philadelphia Museum of Art -the only female director of a United States museum with a budget over $25 million-has proved a formidable presence on the museum circuit,bringing the Brancusi and Cezanne retrospectives,along with hordes of visitors,to the City of Brotherly love. To the chagrin of some,she has demonstrated remarkable business acumen: the Cezanne show was even marketed on QVC,the home shopping Channel.

 

 

 * ANTHONY D' OFFAY Dealer,London We are now the largest contemporary gallery in Europe,"says d'Offay, who represents both the old guard (Ellsworth Kelly,Jasper Johns,Howard Hodgkin and William de Kooning,among others) and up-and-comers like Ellen Gallagher and Gabriel Orozco.His latest catch was sculpture Rachel Whiteread, whose controversial casting for the Holocaust Memorial in Vienna. Notes one reporter,(quote) "He represents a lot of winners." (end quote). D'Offay himself says (quote) his most significant contribution,apart from the gallery, is organizing exhibitions all over the world. *DONALD FISHER Collector, San Francisco Notoriously press-shy, the founder and chief executive officer of the Gap clothing stores has built one of the outstanding collections of contemporary art. A member of the Dia Art Council,Fisher is also a major benefactor of the new San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

 

 

* RUDI FUCHS Director, Stedelijk Museum,Amsterdam Credited by one critic with "injecting new,unexpected life into the Stedelijk," curated shows on Dutch and Flemish 20th-century art,intalling large public sculptures in Turin. His curatorial skills were  highly evident in "Views from Abroad," at the Whitney in New York and the Stedelijk, a show that incorporated works from both collections and was acclaimed for bringing an intuitive and Literary sensibility to the ongoing dialogue between American and European art. * LARRY GAGOSIAN Dealer,New York and Los Angeles Once derided as "nothing but a resale person,"but has broadened his profile and become a permanent fixture on both the east and west coasts.His show of David Hirst's provocations packed the downtown New York gallery. Of his new Richard Meier-designed gallery in Los Angeles, he says, "It's exceeded our hopes both in business and attendance. * ARNE GLIMCHER Dealer, New York and Los Angeles one curator has called Glimcher's gallery,PaceWildenstein," a large Hollywood studio." yes, but what a studio! Leading lights has shown there including Dubuffet and Calder. Glimcher has shown artists not usually associated with southern California, including Cindy Sherman and Diane Arbus. "We 've had a real impact on the community," he notes. 

 

 

* AGNES GUND President, Museum of Modern Art,New York " She lends credence to the argument that God is a woman," says one observer of the longtime MoMA benefactor. A trustee since 1976, Gund relinquished the chairmanship in June of 1995 but remains active in museum affairs.Founder and president of the Studio in a School Association, which brings artist-taught programs to children in New York's  five boroughs. As a collector of art produced from the 1940s to present, Gund has earned high marks. "She doesn't sell, which is important to the artists,who aren't necessarily rich and famous," says ARTnews source. * DAMIEN HIRST Artists,London consider the leader of the young British art "bratpack," the 31-year-old then in 1997 Hirst rose to fame (some would say infamy) with his glass menagerie of bisected beasts. Adead cow and her calf,preserved in glass tanks and shown at the 1993 Venice Biennale, helped win him the turner Prize in and tightly packed crowds at New York's  Gagosian Gallery. Whether this is careerist excess or true talent remains to be seen but Hirst doesn't seem to be counting on the art world for longevity. He's also been directing videos for the pop-music group Blur and has opened a new restaurant in London called Marx.The question is,did Picasso, Dali,Von Gogh or Rembrandt had done any thing like him and "WHY"? I didn't read anywhere any of these artists mentioned had ventured off into another venture other than Art...? What do you think,is he a true artist...?

 

 

 * ROBERT HUGHES Critic,Time, New York One of  the foremost cultural commentators of our time,Hughes considers himself "a writer with one leg in history who is also passionately interested,among other things,in the visual arts, not just as an interpretation machine." He launched in 1997 "American art,aired on PBS and 200-000-word text to accompany the series. * JASPER JOHN Artist,New YORK In 1997 was the subjust of a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, Johns has been famous for nearly 40 years, a long-lived acclaim he wears lightly. "I 'm known only to a very small community," he maintained in a rare interview. As reclusive as he is modest,he has produced a groundbreaking body of work that continues to puzzle and delight-and to inspire reams of prose. By one count,more than 4,000 articles and essays have appeared on the artist since his first flags and targets debuted at Castelli. * MICHAEL KIMMELMAN Chief art critic,New York Times, New York In addition to his regular reviewer's beat,Kimmelman has been pursuing a series of interviews with artists. "it's been very well received," he says, "not least because people want to hear artists say more than what the critics say,even if it's the same thing." On the back burner, Kimmelman adds, is a "slowly evolving project about the formation of American museums" but work at the Times keeps the Harvard-trained former music critic so occupied that sometimes, he says,he "finds it hard to breathe." 

 

 

*KASPAR KONIG Curator, Frankfurt A farmer assistant to Andy Warhol, Konig is now an independent curator and a dean at the Frankfurt Stadelschule, one of the oldest art academies in Germany.Since 1978,his large and influential exhibitions have earned him a global reputation."He's renowned for an immaculate eye and for anticipating who will be the biggest names," says one curator. "He's a master at weeding through the jungle."  Konig  has written a seminal book on the art of the 1980s and has a personal collection-though he says, "I'm not a collector"-that includes "a few drawings" by Andy Warhol,Caspar David Friedrick to name a few. * RICHARD KOSHALEK Director, Museum of Contemporary Art,Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art has remained committed to expanding its horizons with challenging shows, such as one on Brazilian artist Rosangela  Renno and an upcoming installation by Cuban artist Kcho. *THOMAS KRENS Director,Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation,New York  Which played host to such highly praised shows as "Claes Oldenburg," "Abstraction in the twentieth Century" and "Africa: The Art of a Continent." 

 

 

* RONALD S. LAUDER Chairman, Museum of  Modern Art, New York A discrimination collector whose interests range from 20th-century German Expressionist and Austrian art to medieval arms and armor. Since his election to the board of trustees in 1976,Lauder has been a powerful presence at the Modern. A mong his $3.7 million worth of the museum is Richard Serra's Intersection 11. 8 GLENN D.LOWRY Director,Museum of Modern Art,New York In less than two years at the Modern's helm,Lowry has already made an impact,acquiring the neighboring Dorset Hotel and two adjacent brownstones,a move that will nearly double the museum's size. Oversaw a $58 million building project at privious tenure as director  of Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. The Harvard trained Islamicist has moved easily from the ancient to the contemporary, the miniature to the monumental. In 1997 the Modern added Warhol's vast 32-panel Campbell's Soup Cans and James Rosenquist's 86-foot F-long - to its star studded collection. 

 

 

* MATTHEW MARKS Dealer, New York The wonderkind galleries, on his own as a dealer works with some of the most acclaimed artists of our times. "He has real artists to who he's seriously committed ," notes one curator. Opened a 9,000-square-foot gallery space on West 24th St -his third venue,in addition to his other Chelsea space,located on 22nd St and his original uptown gallery on Madison Avenue. Marks credit his success to "being focussed from a very young age. As early as college, I knew exactly what i wanted to do." *  NEIL MCGREGOR Director,National Gallery,London Considered "one of the most likable men in his position,"he has had high-profile shows, such as the "Degas: Beyond Impressionism" and small scholarly exhibitions like sir ernst  Gombrich's examination of the shadow in art. A specialist in German Rennaissance art, has brought the acquisition of important works by Durer. Though he's ushered the museum into the computer age-introducing a computerized database,or microgallery of the gallery's holdings and putting the collection on CD-rom. 

 

 

*  FUMIO NANJO Curator,Tokyo Not surprisingly,"Meet the Network" (http://japan.park.org/Japan/DNP/meet_top.html) brings together artists,architects. Other projects: Curating shows of postwar Italian art and selections from the Stedelijk Museum,planed a "large-scale exhibition" in Arab countries,direct a public-art project in Yokohama,advising artists-in-residence in New York and Italy and cocurating the Brisbane Triennial. Isn't he stretched a little thin? "It is my joy and duty to proceed this way," he says. * RONALD O.PERELMAN President,solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Board of Trustees, New York Loves to collect companies almost as much as he loves to collect art. Notorious as a corporate raider in the 1980s he parlayed $1.9 million in bank loans into a $5 billion fortune and now owns Revlon,First Nationwide Bank.He won't talk to the press about his art interests but his Hampton mansion is rumored to contain works by Pollock, de Kooning, Lichtenstein and Fernand Leger. 

 

 

* JULIA PEYTON JONES Director, Serpentine Gallery,London "One of the most powerful women in the London art world," says a British reporter. The Serpentine Gallery,has evolved from a avant-garde outpost in Hyde Park to one of the most stylish venues for new art in London. The Basquiat show opening attracked the kind of crowds usually reserved for pop stars.Young British artists,as well as international comers,find the gallery one of the best launching pads for their careers."Peyton-Jones has succeeded in shocking the bourgeoisie just enough so that it donates generously to the cause," says reliable source. She spearheaded the Serpentine's successful lottery bid for $4.5 million to renovate the premises.  SIGMAR POLKE  Artist, Germany A late-20th-century romamtic,Polke brings a peculiar lyricism to a postwas  German esthetic,creating what one critic has called "telling methaphors for the fragmentation of civilization today." He's been seen around the globe with large exhibitions in Los Angeles, Washington,D.C., London and Minneapolis.On top of these,a major restrospective of his work in Berlin in 1997. He walked off with prize at the last Carnegie International and his "Laterna Magic"paintings demonstrate,the artist seems possessed of inexhaustible pictorial resources.

 

 

 * EARL A. POWELL Director,National Gallery of Art, Washington,D.C "One of the most incredible and humbling experiences of my career was opening the doors of thousands of people who had waited for hours in the freezing cold to see 'Johannes  Vermeer,' "says Powell. "Their desire to experience great art was confirmation that we are doing something right." Looking toward the 21st century, Powell has begun digitizing the images in the permanent collection (which has been enhanced by an additional 2,000 works in the last two years) and opened a microgallery,which he calls "the most comprehensive interactive computer system in an American art museum today."   * ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG Artist,New York A sense of experiment and play have been the hallmarks of his work and career,even as he enters his eight decade. By now,the list of his awards fills a single spaced typedwriting page. But the master of many mediums is perhaps proundest of his outreach efforts: the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange, an eight-year peace-seeking odyssey that sent 200 collaborative works around the globe;and change,Inc., a nonprofit group that provides emergency funds for artists. 

 

 

*PIERRE ROSENBERG Director, Louvre Museum,Paris  With his election to the prestigious Academie Francaise 1996.Rosenberg is officially an Immortal,a status that has not kept him from attending many a more earthbound "vernissage" in his trademark red scarf. This scholar  and curator,who joined the Louvre in 1962 and became director in 1994,has initiated new programs to increase alreadly immense crowds and attract  younger visitors. He has turned his attentions to overseeing construction of the new Sackler Wing of Oriental Antiquities.* ROBERT ROSENBLUM Professor of fine arts, New York  University Curator of 20th-century art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Rosenblum's art-historical interests extend from 1760 to the present  and he has written profusely on subjects ranging from Ingres to Gilbert and George.He says the professional challenge has been "balancing my life as a fact-finding academic art historian who lives in the 18th and 19th centuries with a passionate commitment to the art of the immediate present."

 

 

  * DAVID ROSS Director,Whtney Museum of American Art  Ross previously gave as his museum's motto "the capacity to embrace change"  and shows that run the gamut from Edward Hopper to Nan Goldin reveal both the institution's uniquely American sensibility and its dedication to the cutting edge.Ross has proved an adroit champion of "bringing the museum beyond its own walls." *

LORD ROTHSCHILD Director,National Heritage Memorial Fund,London With $384 million in lottery money to disburse per annum, he has the deepest pockets in the world to spend on art-for everything from paintings to manuscripts to museum restoration. Born into the famous banking family,he dutifully entered the financial world.But  over the past two decades, to present, he's become a serious presence in the art world. A trustee of the National Gallery, juror of the Pritzker Prize for architecture and family representative for all things cultural. * WILLIAM S. RUBIN  Director emeritus, department of painting and sculpture, Museum of Modern Art,New York He organized the hugely popular "Picasso and  Portraiture" exhibition at the Modern in 1996 and serves as adjunct professor of fine arts at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. As chief curator of the painting and sculpture collection for two decades,he organized major shows that range from Cubism to Frank Stella,from Cezanne to Picasso and Braque and oversaw the reinstallation of the collection.He has reaped most of the major honors in the field. and was also named Officer of the French Legion of Honor and Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.

 

 

 *NICHOLAS SEROTA Director, Tate Gallery, London "He's performed the formidable task of rallying financial support for contemporary art and convincing the powers that-be that Britain needs a major modern-art gallery capable of hosting international shows," says one critic.He overseen every aspect of the new Tate Gallery of Modern Art at Bankside and has also introduced temporary sculpture exhibitions and annual shows of minimalist art. * DAVID SYLVESTER Critic, London Said to have one of the most discerning eyes in 20th-century art and old enough to have known most of its masters, curated the Francis Bacon  blockbuster at the Pompidou Center and the Giacometti show at the Royal Academy of arts.He has organized exhibitions of de Kooning,Picasso and Brancusi. Among his many notable publications are About Modern Art and a book on Giacometti, which garnered him the coveted Golden Lion award for best international critic at the Venice Biennale.

 

 

*KIRK VARNEDOE Chief curator, department of painting and sculpture,Museum of Modern Art,New York He organized the Jasper Johns retrospective in 1997,which is among a string of shows he organized. A MacArthur Fellow,whose other honors include membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Slade professorship at Oxford. Museum expansion of the contemporary galleries and introduction of the well-received "Artist's Choice" exhibitions. Modern Art and popular Culture" and the Cy Twombly retrospective-had critics fuming, fears that a scholar of 19th-century art could not keep up with the present have long been put to rest. *LESLIE WADDINGTON Dealer, London " I do not think that i am any longer one of the 50 most powerful people in the art world," demurs the Ulster-born,Paris educated dealer.But his greatest pleasure,says Waddington,is  acquiring an ever-deeper knowledge of such artists as Dubuffet and Picasso. "It is very odd that people today call themselves experts in marketing and promotion but have no sense of what art is about."

 

 

 * JOHN WALSH Director, J. Paul Getty Museum,Malibu " He's the real art person at the Getty," remarks one critic and indeed Walsh's scholarly accomplishments range from detail ed critical analyses to a book for general audiences on Dutch genre painter Jan Steen.In 1997 he snapped up works by Rembrandt and Cezanne and sketchbooks by Degas and Gericault. *SIR ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER Collector, 

London The composer-prodcer's collection of Victorian art packs the strong emotional wallop of the musicals that made him a millionaire-among them,Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Sunset Boulevard.A fan of this once-scorned period  since he bought his first work (a Rossetti drawing) at age 15,he is now the most serious collector of Victorian art in Britain. But there is another side to his esthetic pursuits: the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation,founded in 1992 to "purchase outstanding and unique works of art from all periods and to make them accessible to the British public," according to art adviser David Mason of Mason McConnell Gallery in London. So far, the composer has paid top dollar for a Canaletto,a Blue Period Picasso and Sir Edward Burne-Jones's "Holy Grail" tapestries,all on loan to public galleries. "England has been good to Andrew," says Mason. "This foundation is a way of giving back." 

 

 

*MICHAEL WERNER Dealer, Cologne and New York The German-born Werner proudly points to the accomplishments of the artists he has been representing,some for more than 30 years: Sigmar Polke won the Carnegie International prize;  George Baselitz has a retrospective at the Musee d' Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and Per Kirkeby at the Arken  Museum in Denmark; and James Lee Byars contributed a large installation for the opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.Werner says his goal is to establish for his artists "as important a reputation in the U.S. as they have in Europe." *DANIEL WILDENSTEIN  Dealer and art historian,New York and Paris The paterfamilias of one of the world's great art dynasties,an adviser to museums and collectors, he remains a major player on the international scene.Even as a fifth generation is being groomed to enter the 120-year-old business, the senior Wildenstein is active as a member of the Institut de France and as the guiding force behind the Gazette des Beaux Arts,the world's oldest art journal.

 

 

 * HAROLD M. WILLIAMS President and chief executive officer,the J.Paul Getty Trust,Los Angeles He has seen the completion of the immense Getty Center,which unites six divisions and 350 staff members. His stints includes at Hunt Wesson,at the Norton Simon Museum and as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision under President Carter. His last year has been devoted to linking the Getty "more deeply with the city of Los Angeles and the entire Southern California region." NB. Information was extrated  from ARTnews ;When next you walk on the streets of Paris,New York, Europe,England,China, etc, ask the question; You might say,a more comprehensive or true survey is from views from different civilizations...? Just pick up the book title: A HISTORY OF ART ,on "a survey of the visual arts from the dawn of history to the present day;"It is said that, the greatest of university is the BAR,or MARKET-PLACE,HAIR DRESSER SHOP & COFFEE SHOP ...?    

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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

HOW TO COLLECT ART-THE MOST EXPENSIVE LIVINGS ARTIST!!!

HOW TO COLLECT ART-THE MOST EXPENSIVE LIVING ARTIST !!! * INSTINCT AND INTUITION *CONVICTION *PASSION * HAVE AN (ACQUIRING MIND) * PRACTICE AND CULTIVATE PATIENCE * OBSERVE * USE YOUR IMAGINATIONA big part of the pleasure in collecting art has been the educational process and the gradual development of greater self confidence. Lucian Freud is a British Painter type: Contemporary Art, is said to be the "most expensive living artist at auction of the 21st Century "...,with a "Big Sue"painting.The painting called: " Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" sold for $ 33.6 million or £17.2 million at Christies in May 2009.The Sitter is (Sue Tilley ) and she sat for Freud over a four year period.The London based Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich is said the buyer of Lucian Freud's Big Sue and Francis Bacan's triptych which sold for $ 86.3 Million or £43 million.Trust your instinct especially if you want to collect art meaningfully.Meet someone who will take the time to educate you more to have confidence in your tastes and if you are a couple,you both try to get there together;Learn about different artists and have different pieces in a collection,your appreciation grows the more you look at art.Collecting is not just buying art,it is really spiritual which you have to have a 'passion' for. Is esthetics,rather than economics,is the guiding principle when assembling a great collection?However,in the late 90s,new art collectors face a bewildering array of choices.Not only they have to choose a focus -which medium,which period,which artists-in the increasing diversity of fine art but must also make decisions about budget and value in an ever-fluctuating market.I know of a budding art collector ,who saw a painting by a Jamaican master painter and paid down monthly until she finished,so, one doesn't have to have a lot of money to start collect; I say to anyone interms of collecting an artist,it is important to collect works from different time/period as the artist progresses;HOW SHOULD A COLLECTOR BEGIN?'spend a lot of time looking'.'Go slow,ask questions and be sure you can't live with out it; 'look at lots of different work,visit galleries,museums etc.'Build your visual vocabulary';'Visual literacy takes time';Icons like Picasso, Von Gogh etc, you just have to look at or you may buy prints of their works.As you learn more,you learn to get comfortable with different kinds of images. MEET EXPERIENCED COLLECTORS ,an interview by ARTnews around the world for the tenth annual ARTnews summer issued 2000, THE WORLD'S TOP 200 COLLECTORS (and its Top Ten),the list of the world's most active collectors.It should be pointed out that not everyone agrees completely with the philosophy of Crosby Kemper,one of the top 200.THE TOP TEN: Debbie and Leon Black, Edythe L. and Eli Broad, Doris and Donald Fisher,David Geffen, Ronnie and samuel Heyman, Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis, Ronald S. Lauder, Francois Pinault, Charles Saatchi, Helen and Charles Schwab. It's the "wow" factor .That's what determines whether Crosby Kemper, a Kansas City banker,buys a work of art.Kemper,who collects Old Masters as well as modern and contemporary art,had this revelation in a talk with art historian Irving Sandler,for the catalogue of "The Collector as Patron in the Twentieth Century". Kemper and many other collectors are being wowed quete a bit.(quote), "This art market is the most active and serious market we' very ever seen",says one dealer( end quote) .It can be an artist or anyone but it should be one who relate how his first encounter with a work(s),it doesn't have to be a professional adviser but one who has started and can't stop,who lives art; Even when you listen to people,you have to "LISTEN"to "YOU". Some collectors don't take nor ask for advise,they collect from the soul,the work has to touch their soul,like love,love don't ask for advise to love,its how it makes you feel,if its real,its true; Museums are making themselves accessible,willing to talk to new collectors so, you can join their mailing list.Talk about art in your own language and even when you would have learnt other language(s),there is no "The" way to talk "ART" so,dont be shy when you meet the art connoisseurs.Some times i hear people say,i dont know nothing about art,you know about art what you know,so,talk what you know,in your own language. Read about art/art history and the different art periods,style,movements, concepts in art and compare them.The more you study the history of art,its the more you get a sense of continiuty, meaning,the history of art continues with time.I advise collectors to seek out an art appraiser with expertise; It is said "the best collectors are knowledgeable" ,that's relitive...?However,what makes a collector knowledgeable?One who collects none stop...;Get update on art research,what could be worse, if you find out that the artwork you just bought is stolen or fake?'Not finding out until you try to sell it or your children finds out when they inherit it'.An art researcher works on monographs in which they have to prove whether or not an artist did a certain work.When you can't get a straight answer about a purchase you made or are about to make,"that could be the first clue something's wrong".Be wary of the so-called incredible deal/bargain."Train your eyes for the possibility to avoid these situations." Take a art history/looking at art course if you have the time but i think you should have time because serious collecting takes time,even though collecting for years is like,taking an actual course...?Buy books on art of different period;Find out how museums collect the cutting edge and why? WHO CAN YOU TRUST? "One way to find a dealer to trust,is a dealer who makes himself available.Someone who will help you to build a collection with 'significance', who will work with you and teach you to trust yourself". A dealer "should point collectors toward the best pieces" because as a new collector you may respond out of emotion. A trusted dealer makes sure you take the pieces that evoke a resonance that will always be evident each time you gazed at it. As an artist,I find the best dealers are good counselors and it will take time to find same.There will be exhibitions that asyou enter the door unless you are prepared to spend huge cash but get comfortable,you are in for a few of those shows. Approach the process of collecting with out unduly influence by a dealer but you should be seen and felt in what you collect."The more you be yourself and know less,it is a matter of trust". WHEN TO RUN ?Never chase a dealer to get something to buy.Find a dealer who at least gives a level of respect and some dealers never make eye contact.TO SPOT A "HARD SELL"."Watch out for those dealers who are sales people trying to sell a commodity they know nothing about",salability is not the goal and trust comes from believing in the artwork". "A dealer who trust their own choices doesn't justify the work by the resale market but by art history ". Certain hard-sell tactics,such as "the last great bargain" syndrome. "Never buy simply because the dealer says this is the last or the prices are going up.Prices may or may not increase but in either case,that never means anything."Take counsel new collectors,never buy simply because you are told that something will increase in value."You will only get a record of what other people thought was going to go up in value." WHAT TO BUY FIRST? " Start with drawings to develop an understanding of the artist's process." Get posters and postcards.Put postcards all over the walls of your home or office.It trains you to look.You can learn even from a poster whether (a work) is the kind of thing you must have.You learn what you love and what is forgettable." "If you look at the great collections of the world ,they never spent more than several thousand dollars to start". "It's an evolutionary process." A young aspiring collector said, and i quote "I started fresh from college on the way to medical school and dealers were willing to work with me,with payment schedules and for smaller works." "I didn't have much money when i started but i was not shy asking about having three months to pay,"says Hall. "I couldn't do it but i recommend starting with a focus, such as photography,then broadening gradually," end quote. "If you look at it as investment of time,not money,you can find great works in artists' studios or at charity auctions." "People who race around and expect to get a masterpiece in a minute don't understand...; " There's the initial impact when you look at a work for the first time.But then you have to consider, does it endure? In a lot of cases, it doesn't.After awhile,you might say, 'Nah, it wasn't that great.' " Nah, but greatness is what's selling particularly well these days. "Great works of art are going for great prices and mediocre works are going for mediocre prices." "That was not the case during the boom of the 1980s,which proves that people know what they' re buying.It's a high-quality market,with lots of new collectors who have a lot of money. "The market is very much dominated by Americans.What's especially healthy is that the whole speculative element of the '80s is gone. Now the buyers want to keep the works.They're not going into bank vaults." A trend watcher has this to add: (quote), "The big highlights of the recent auctions were the contemporary sales,when records were set for 26 contemporary artists in 2000. The contemporary market is very volatile,of course.It can change quickly.But it's really in,which it hasn't been for quite awhile. Some folks are saying that they' re seeing an upsurge of realistic and representational art. It's a new kind of representation-it has twists and there is confusion in the imagery,as opposed to the old-fashioned representation.And,keep in mind,not all the action is at auctions.An increasing number of important sales are being made privately,at the galleries." The trend watcher is not a dealer,end quote. Another interview,i (quote) So,how much longer will it last? "We very seen many cycles," says another trend watcher,who is a dealer and has spent millions of dollars on art for clients in 2007. "There will be a down cycle.I don't see the end but i hope it slows down a little." end quote; HOW TO GET THE RIGHT PRICE? "Look at what things have been selling for at auctions or at past shows." Advise from a collector and (i quote) " When i first started collecting, i was buying Pop artists (from) the Pop period. This was a big mistake. I wasn't getting the art i wanted,I was just getting the names i wanted," recalls Gelb,end quote." "Everyone wants to own a piece of a famous artist but the right way to collect is to buy the best piece by an artist at the best time". " No one wants to lose money, so talk to the dealer and ask if you can exchange the work in the future,or if they will be able to resell it if you later want to buy something else or something better by the artist." I was asked to resell five of (my own early works) by an art collector, who wanted some money and i did sold them, to other collectors and one piece to a major institution,bank of Jamaica (BOJ); START A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AUCTION HOUSE? " Introduce yourself to the representatives in your field of interest. " "You should know the people at the auction house as well as you know your favorite dealer." It is recommended that to new collectors: " Auctions are not the best way to get started because the beginning collector doesn't have expertise and experience to separate the wheat from the chaff.After you have seen several hundred works of art and having looked at all the material before the auction,you can try. But personally, i would recommend the new collector to observe,listen,learn,ask questions,especially if he wants to go into it for investment reason.Otherwise you can collect by saying,"WOW" and listen to nobody ,just "collect"; Start by visiting an artist of your choice,charity auctions etc...; Certainly one who buys at auctions without looking at condition (of the work) and talking to the dealer who handles the artist,or even as simple as taking a piece off the wall to look at the back of the work is not ready because a work of art is not about (face value) but a wholistical look; Look at the structure a work was done on,asked the dealer or artist on what ground it was done on; One of the best ground/medium is "Gesso...",for paintings; Get into the habit of questioning the artist,whose work you intend to invest in,you can't get into the spirit of the artist but deep information you wont get from anyone else; As an art creator,one of the first books i bought was a (Dictionary of Art Terms),of course i have an (Art history book;) A collector should be as passionate as the artist who is serious and collect books of art to read on: Styles Techniques, Periods/movements etc...; HIDDEN COSTS OF ASSEMBLING AN ART COLLECTION : "The costs of restoration and framing is another real financial problem and insurance is vital. "If you are buying works on paper, no direct sunlight.Not even indirect sunlight", If the works are going to be on a wall, it needs to be glazed according to museum standards with acid-free matting and ultraviolet light-resistance glass.If the work is more than ten years old,you should have an art conservator look at it before it is being framed." "One of the things you should realize as a first time collector is that you are buying objects that have a life of their own." Maintain them and you may have to loan them to artists and museum. You may find yourself calling museums to collect large pieces futuristically. " Conservation of works (is the greatest hidden cost ). It is imperative to do your home work ." "You have to be keen enough to spend money to get advise on keeping your collection. You will need to think about , how you are going to deal with contemporary art,what is going to happen to them over time,if you want to keep them. THE BIGGEST MISTAKES A COLLECTOR CAN MAKE: " If you are not informed enough,you buy something that doesn't posses the depth a work of art should evoke." " Most mistakes have been being too conservative," "Sometimes you pass on something and later you realize you should have gotten it.But it alwayscomes back (on the market) later. It is better to take chances.If you are a person who buys art like commodities,you will wind up with stocks of certificates on your walls. You will have things you can't live with. " Buy what evoke your imagination, that has life's energy.Valuation of Art works requires a thorough knowledge of the art in your country.A history of the art market and an up to date knowledge of the current market; It is the way anyone who deals in Art should study world Art market to know who and what is doing what, who is selling for what, who's upcoming, who to watch; Be a member of an Art Dealers Association of your country. When you buy a work of Art, you are going to be living with it or them for the rest of your life,possible; Each work is like a child,it asked questions; By Artist John Powellwww.absolutearts.com/portfolios/j/johnpowellpaintings

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

w:defaultTabStop w:val="720"/> ART AND THE ECONOMY-HIT OR MISS!!! There are many elements involved in an economy but i choose to look at art;Art appreciation is a gateway to the intellectual capacity of the mind,which opens the door for learning because in art you find cultural diversity,where learning first starts;To appreciate diverse art forms,one has to be,first culturally diverse/aware because it is through art all forms of cultures are seen; It is said that credit, is the life blood of any economy, art is one credit that helps to detect "signs" of an economy?It is in the art collection of any country that can help one to see the wealth of a country;So,you can see the important place art plays in an economy;It helps us to see what one could term the early "signs" of a good or bad economy in a country,hence art is about visual signs but most people mainly who i would call the connoisseurs of the economy,may have not being looking at art as an element for signs for an economical depression; A work of art may be understood as a conductor from the artist's mind to the viewer's but it may never reach the viewer.With the advent of the Internet,artists can set up their own websites and be seen;The past years have been a taxing ride for the Online art market.The Internet art economy,which drew entrepreneurs Online and inspired venture capitalists and investors to infuse dot-com companies with cash,in 2001;Nancy Valentino, senior vice president of Christies.com,said (quote) "if someone had told me on January 1 what would have happened to art on the Internet by Nov 1,i would not have believed them,it's been a frantic year /"passion",(end quote). Those who are skeptical of the Internet's potential as a marketplace for high end art note the financial instability of the past years,optimists point to an increasing number of new collectors who have emerged Online. In contrast ,the Jamaican art scene has its share of ups and downs,where companies are not buying but quietly, serious art collectors have being buying,in 2008 a billionaire and a major art collector,purchased up to $60.ooo,ooo million worth of art works,from a major Jamaican fine art collector and one of Jamaicas top artist/painter.A lesser known artist who is one of Jamaican most important emerging painter, who's entire solo exhibition sold out with paintings value $150.000-$1,000,000 million dollars. More so, in a time of an economical melt down,art collectors look for artists who are serious to collect."Good Art",even though you might say its a relitive term, has the capacity to flow through any depression and will always break the monotonous flow of any period and with stand the test of time,beyond boundaries.Whenever there is a time of "significance",people tend to look at art more for answers or healing,it has always been there but was never been given attention;Art speaks through "time" irrispective of any special period,art is time and vice-versa,its a way of life;Its real and if you are not being real, it tells you; Art speaks economics,if the shapers and makers of the economy were looking at art more,they would have seen it coming;We take it for granted when we are looking at art and so,we are bewildered by saying but thats what i have being seeing in the expressions of the people.We tend to look at (wall street) for the answers but wall street should look at art more because it is in the arts most times the signs exist first because it tells us the reality of the time.So, when next someone asked you,what is the state of the economy,tell them,just look at art;Art is a visual sign/language,also the "economy" and the language used to discuss both art and the economy,are "similar"...? What are the elements used in discussing the economy and what are the elements used in discussing art,are they similar or dissimilar?Do they have or move in the same pattern or form?What is economy?Is the economy life?Art depicts life;Does the economy relate with art?Who or what dictates the economy?The economy is a way of life,art is also a way of life; By John Powell (Artist)www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/j/johnpowellpaintings

ART AND THE ECONOMY-HIT OR MISS!!!