Polsky - The art prophets : the artists, dealers, and tastemakers who shook the art world

Boneheads: My Search for T. Rex

I Sold Andy Warhol (Too Soon)

I Bought Andy Warhol

The Art Market Guide (19951998)

Copyright 2011 Richard Polsky

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Polsky, Richard.

The art prophets : the artists, dealers, and tastemakers who shook the art world / Richard Polsky.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-59051-407-8 1. ArtCollectors and collectingUnited StatesHistory20th century. 2. Art dealersUnited StatesHistory20th century. 3. ArtUnited StatesMarketing. 4. ArtForecasting. I. Title. II. Title: Artists, dealers, and tastemakers who shook the art world.
N5201.P65 2011
709.22dc22 2011013296

v3.1

For my mother, the writer Marlit Polsky

I F YOU CONDUCTED a survey in the art world and asked, Whats the first name that comes to mind when you think of a visionary art dealer?, chances are the answer would be Joseph Duveen. As anyone who has read S. N. Behrmans wonderful biography Duveen knows, he was the man who introduced Americas early-twentieth-century industrialists to Europes old masters. Duveen perfected the art of the deal, way before Donald Trump. There was almost nothing Duveen wouldnt do for his most important collectorsprocuring architects to design their homes, wrangling reservations in fully booked hotels and tickets on sold-out cruises, even finding spouses for a select few. His clientele included the Rockefellers, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. He helped them develop collections that often wound up being donated to such institutions as the National Gallery of Art, where, in this case, they formed the core of the Nationals Italian Renaissance holdingsfurther burnishing his legendary status.

Despite Duveens lofty reputation, he needs to be seen as a business visionary firstand an art-world visionary second. His empire was built on the simple observation that Europe had plenty of art and America had plenty of money. His plan for marrying art and commerce was based on understanding the psychology of his clients and the current Zeitgeist. Duveen figured out that the nouveau riche tycoons he dealt with needed daily reminders of their accomplishments, and what better way to celebrate ones greatness than to live with iconic works of art?

The eleven men and women you are about to read about were all pretty fair business-minded people in their own right (for the most part). But what they ultimately achieved, in many ways, was greater than Duveens success. It went beyond the art of the deal and returned to the appreciation of art itself. The art prophets in this book altered lives. In some cases, the artists themselves were the beneficiaries, in others the collectors. Each of these seers snatched something out of the wind and conjured up a hurricane that redirected the art scene. As for the ten selected categories of art, from Pop Art to Native American art to photography, this book offers a glimpse into some lesser-known art movements and a fresh take on some already well-known ones. Sometimes it was a matter of identifying a group of like-minded artists and packaging them as a movement. In another scenario, it was about resurrecting an art form that had fallen into obscurity. Its also important to bear in mind that the key figures in each chapter werent just dealers or promoters; they were also the artists friends, supporters, patrons, and biggest fans.

This book concentrates primarily on American art created from the sixtieswhen our countrys boundaries for the arts were explodingto the present day, when the arts have become a growth industry. The art market also experienced a dramatic upheaval during this time span. Back in 1958, when Jasper Johns painted his famous Three Flags, it would have been inconceivable that the triptych of superimposed canvases, which originally sold for approximately $950, would sell only twenty-two years later to the Whitney Museum of American Art for $1 million. Now, we shrug when we hear about a Picasso or a Giacometti bringing $100 million at auction. While the art world has come to be dominated by an investment mentality, at the end of the day it still comes back to the art itself. As Jasper Johns said when asked to comment after the sale of Three Flags, A million dollars is a lot of money, especially to someone born during the Depression. But it has nothing to do with art.

The lives of the art prophets in this book have everything to do with art. Their love of art is both personal and professional. Their lives revolve around it. They read it, eat it, and sleep it. But at the end of the day, they would all agree that what matters is whether the art theyve chosen will survive the test of time. Joseph Duveen dealt in classics whose greatness had been acknowledged for centuries. The visionaries in this book have had a much tougher task. Theyve put their reputations on the line for artists whose work has been in existence (in most cases) for roughly fifty yearsbut what a fifty-year period.

Another thing to keep in mind is that no one sets out to become an art-world visionary. Instead, what connects these movers and shakers is an insatiable curiosity that propels them forward in their search for visual revelations. You also work hard. During the early 1960s, Ivan Karp, one of the books subjects, was known for visiting up to five artists studios per day. He certainly wasnt doing it for his health; he did it because he was on an artistic mission. The rewards were there for those who found themselves in the right place at the right time and possessed the ability to detect authentic art. You might even find yourself waking up one morning and reading about one of your discoveries in the New York Timessuch as the arrival of Andy Warholwhich began to happen to Karp with increasing frequency. Whether or not celebrity was awaiting them at the end of their roads was inconsequential. What mattered was the artistic process and its outcome.