News Intelligence Analysis
Damien Hirst reigns supreme in art world
· First Briton to top ranking of dealers and collectors
· Artist has more clout than Tate director, list says
Charlotte Higgins, arts correspondent
Monday October 31, 2005
Guardian
Damien Hirst is the most powerful person in the international
artworld - toppling his own larger-than-life US dealer Larry
Gagosian and the Tate's mighty overlord Sir Nicholas Serota -
according to this year's Power 100 list from ArtReview magazine.
It is the first time a Briton, or an artist, has topped the list
since it was started in 2002.
Hirst is regarded as having more clout than the most influential
museum directors, collectors and dealers in the world because
of his wealth, his artistic influence and his cultural penetration
as one of the few contemporary artists who can justly be regarded
as a household name.
His work continues to fetch huge prices at auction, and the sale of the contents of his former London restaurant Pharmacy made over £11m in less than two hours in October 2004. His show of photorealist paintings at the Gagosian Gallery in New York was critically panned but nonetheless sold. Meanwhile, like a Paris couturier, he has a flourishing "diffusion line", selling prints in large editions.
He employs 50 people and runs four studios, and recently announced his plans to open a contemporary art gallery in his Gloucestershire stately home. "He is practically an industry unto himself," said Sarah Thornton, an artworld sociologist and consultant to Power 100. "In artistic terms he is not just a footnote in art history. He has been the leading figure in a movement that won't be forgotten," she said. "In terms of his popular power outside the artworld, here's an example: the bestselling item in the Tate Modern shop this year was a spot badge [based on his famous spot paintings]. Twenty thousand sold, and the work it was based on wasn't even on display."
The list sees artists wielding more power than ever before, according to Thornton. American Bruce Nauman is the second artist on the list, placed at nine overall. His sound installation for the Tate Modern Turbine Hall this year baffled and entranced British audiences in equal measure. His potency within the artwold, according to Thornton, is very different from that of Hirst, whose business interests are so phenomenal that the artist's accountant, Frank Dunphy, is on the list himself, at no 91. "He doesn't do media. He lives in New Mexico on a horse ranch. He doesn't do parties. He is absolutely serious. The respect he commands is phenomenal."
Other prominent artists on the list include Jeff Wall (34); painter Marlene Dumas, whose star has been steadily rising over the past several years (45); and new British entries Chris Ofili (58) and Rachel Whiteread (97).
Nearly half the top 100 are Americans, with gallerist Larry Gagosian at second and the director of New York's Museum of Modern Art, Glenn D Lowry, at third, with gaggles of dealers, super-rich collectors and artists such as Richard Serra, Jeff Koons and Paul McCarthy just behind.
Britain is second-best represented, with 18 names, reflecting the continuing effect of the Young British Artists and Tate Modern, as well as the public's increasing acceptance of contemporary art as a part of mainstream visual culture.
The top British woman on the list is Amanda Sharp (33), co-publisher of Frieze magazine and now the successful joint impresario, with Matthew Slotover, of Frieze art fair, which last week saw international collectors flocking to London to snap up contemporary art.
Money changing hands at the event is expected to be in excess of last year's £26m. The list also features prominent international dealers who have set up shop in Britain, such as the Swiss Iwan Wirth, of Hauser and Wirth, who has recently voted with his feet by moving his entire family to London.
Iwona Blazwick, director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, is a new entry on the list at 67. British gallerists Sadie Coles, Victoria Miro and Maureen Paley also make the cut.
Germany is close behind Britain, with 13 names, testament to the interest in artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter and Neo Rauch.
There is a particular regard at the moment for painters, particularly those coming out of the former East Germany, while Berlin remains a powerful city on the contemporary art scene.
Number two on the list is the Frenchman François Pinault, who both owns Christie's auction house and is a prominent collector. "It's such a powerful combination, owning both the strongest auction house in relation to contemporary art and being a collector. It's often the players who occupy more than one role who command most power," said Thornton. No French artist makes the list, however.
The top 15
1 (78) Damien Hirst Artist
2 (1) Larry Gagosian Dealer/gallerist
3 (13) Francois Pinault Owner of Christie's /collector
4 (3) Nicholas Serota Museum director
5 (2) Glenn D Lowry Museum director
6 (22) Eli Broad Collector/philanthropist
7 (5) Sam Keller Art fair director, Art Basel
8 (11) Iwan Wirth Dealer/gallerist, Hauser and Wirth
9 (-) Bruce Nauman Artist
10 (34) David Zwirner Dealer/gallerist
11 (-) Herzog & de Meuron Architects
12 (8) Ronald Lauder Collector/philanthropist
13 (23) Richard Serra Artist
14 (15) Marian Goodman Dealer/gallerist
15 (6) Dakis Joannou Collector
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
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