Art dealer Larry Gagosian on the cover of Art Review
DAY 8 Today is Friday, June 10th and we are taking a closer look at the contemporary art market through the
work of Don Thompson (the $12M Stuffed Shark), Robert Hughes' BBC 4 documentary, the Mona Lisa Curse,
and selected high powered art dealers, such as Larry Gagosian. As you consider the assigned readings and film,
choose a contemporary art dealer to report on with regards to their philosophy of working with artists and collectors,
but please don't all choose Larry Gagosian. At the end of the FT interview and throughout the WSJ article several
other high-powered international art dealers are mentioned for you to choose from. You might also consider the
practice of branding and its effect on artists, their work, its value and marketing, and, of course, dealers. Have fun
and remember to include links to videos, images or indices that help to explicate your post!
Readings
Read the following short chapters from Don Thompson's The $12M Stuffed Shark (Palgrave/MacMillan, 2007): Branding and Insecurity; Branded Dealers; the Art of the Dealer; and Art Fairs: the Dealer's Final Frontier. ThompsonChapters.pdf
Read the recent Wall Street Journal article about global art wheeler-dealer Larry Gagosian, "The Larry Gagosian Effect": http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703712504576232791179823226.html
Watch the acclaimed BBC Channel 4 documentary the Mona Lisa Curse, narrated by art critic Robert Hughes, 2008, 75 min. It is available below in twelve six-minute segments:
http://art-for-a-change.com/blog/2009/11/the-mona-lisa-curse.html
Highly Recommended: Read the FT interview with Larry Gagosian and note the list of ten art world gallerists/dealers in competition with Gagosian for the head of the pack: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c5e9cf78-dd62-11df-beb7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Om9FVW97
Individual Contributions
Vincent Anthony Falkiewicz
Erica Gilbert-Levin
Meet Iwan Wirth, the man who has claimed headlines in recent years as "bigger than Saatchi,"
an art dealer whose risks, particularly in a recessive market, have paid off, and to whom artists become as loyal as he is to them. Wirth, "one of the most powerful art dealers in the world," according to the Telegraph
, has become a brand name unto his own, sufficiently reputable in the art world that, like other "branded dealers," his "choices and judgment" have "become a substitute for, and certainly [...] a reinforcement of, aesthetic judgment" (Thompson, 14).
Wirth has developed a keen strategic repertoire in his dealings with artists and collectors. He is highly dedicated to his artists, many of whom he discovered in their emerging years, took financial risks on, and supported throughout their careers. As a result of this attentiveness and fidelity, Wirth "has never lost an artist – not a mean feat in an industry where contracts are rare and mutual love is all that keeps artist and dealer together," writes Miller in the Telegraph. In W Magazine, Wirth explains his strategy this way: "You're very close with the artists and you become a part of the creative process, and that gives you credibility with collectors."
Wirth's risk-taking extends to the art and its marketing itself: He possesses a "Rumelstiltskin-like ability to fashion gold from thin air, or rather, ideas," writes Miller. This ability is likely due mainly from his already-established cultural and institutional legitimacy in the art world: His name has become a brand (Thompson, 14), and with the already-established trust and reassurance that name proffers, it hardly matters what kind of art he promotes; it is more important that it is Wirth promoting it. This is why the Tate, MoMa, and Whitney don't appear to blink as they shell out millions of dollars for Wirth art that "you might willingly pay not to be dumped on your doorstep" (Miller).
Wirth is "forward-thinking," always looking for areas of the art market that have not yet been trail-blazed. To this end, he has needed "to invent different schemes and use different tools to get attention," W Magazine reports. "Along with a well-trained eye, those tools included deep pockets and plenty of patience." He exploits his connections, targeting markets neglected by other giant dealers like Larry Gagosian. Unlike the "New World moguls Gagosian often deals with, Wirth's clients tend to be seasoned collectors, including families that have been acquiring art for generations" (W Magazine).
Art Dealer Iwan Wirth
References:
http://www.wmagazine.com/artdesign/2009/12/iwan_wirth?currentPage=1
Kimberly Ann Phoenix
Consider & comment:
What did you think of today's readings and wiki features? What issues if any did they raise for you? How did the audio visual material provided support your understanding of this topic? Comment on your classmates' posts. Leave your comments in the box below.