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vendredi 12 octobre 2007

The Art World's Most Influential People

The Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2007

The Power 100, The Art World's Most Influential People Chosen by ArtReview Magazine's Panel

Three Indians have made it to the annual ArtReview Power 100, a global list of the most powerful people in the art world, in a sign of the rising significance of the country’s Rs1,500 crore art market. This is the first time India has a presence in the list.
Artist Subodh Gupta is No. 85 on the list
Artist Subodh Gupta comes in at No. 85, Osian’s auction house head Neville Tuli is at No. 99 and collector Anupam Poddar at No. 100. (livemint.com The Wall Street Journal)

Everyone loves lists, and lists that combine power, money and art are irresistible. The ArtReview Power 100 has established itself as the anxiously awaited, obsessively examined signpost to who's in, who's out, who's hot and who's not in the contemporary art world today.
.Selecting the top 100 movers and shakers in this shifting landscape is inevitably fraught with difficulties. Who wields more power: a top art dealer with a network of galleries or the director of a major museum? How do you compare influence in India to influence in New York? How do you evaluate money in a market where pricing transparency is nonexistent and deals are sealed on a handshake in a back room? Does the (purported) sale of a $100 million diamond-encrusted skull make its creator, Damien Hirst, more important -- or just a lot richer?
The panel that pondered these questions consists of journalists from around the world. Interestingly, their opinions varied wildly: Asked to suggest new names, they came up with a bewildering array, with hardly any overlaps.
The truth is that the world of contemporary art has expanded enormously. The art world has gone global, with the appearance of players from countries that previously were hardly visible on the artistic radar. Indian and Russian buyers are having an enormous impact on the art market. In the Middle East and China plans are afoot for swaths of new museums: five alone in Abu Dhabi, and plenty more in China. While many players from these countries are not yet in the top 100, they are moving up fast.
In the established art world, New York is hugely important because of the market there, the financial infrastructure and the magnitude of its institutions. But now Los Angeles is increasingly where the talent is, with the infrastructure beginning to catch up. Contemporary art is the U.S. west coast's great strength, and institutions such as Los Angeles's Hammer Museum are beginning to funnel the energy of their artists. In Europe, London is an increasing force, both financially -- thanks to the Frieze Art Fair and near-tax-haven status among the world's superwealthy -- and creatively. Even France, once quite hostile to new art, boasts our No. 1 entry, François Pinault.
We are already hearing about the growing number of collectors who are opening their own gallery spaces. Charles Saatchi started the trend in 1985, and since then dozens of other collectors have followed suit, from French billionaires (Mr. Pinault has two museums in Venice) to Mexican industrialists (Eugenio López's Colección Jumex in the Mexico City suburbs).
Art dealing is on a roll, and with the amazing increase in the prices for the most sought-after art, dealers and auction-house specialists have become stars in this world, sometimes eclipsing the artists they sell. And the buildings that house the art icons of our time -- the Hirsts, the Serras, the Warhols -- are designed by today's "starchitects," a few of whom also figure on our list.
All of these people -- curators, critics, architects, dealers, advisers and collectors -- owe their positions, their influence and their livelihoods to the artists who create the art. But could the artists be successful without the curators, critics and dealers who nurture and promote their careers? The Power 100 reflects this interdependence, with its strange juxtapositions of the academic, the commercial and the creative.

Georgina Adam is the chairwoman of the ArtReview Power 100 selection committee for 2007.

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