Big Bucks: The Explosion of the Art Market in the 21st Century
by
Georgina Adam
Published 14 Jun 2014
127 The advantages for a location to host a fair are obvious – it brings business and a raised profile to the city, along with big-spending visitors. The economic benefits of holding a fair are difficult to quantify, but according to one report,128 between 2002, when Art Basel Miami Beach was held for the first time, and 2010, revenue from the average Miami-Dade hotel room grew 51 per cent, and in December alone, it grew by 79 per cent. Even the local airport benefits, with private jets paying landing fees during the fair. Art Basel Miami Beach – and the multitude of satellite events that are held at the same time – has enabled Miami to rebrand itself as a cultural centre and boost its tourism industry.
…
He also notes that elsewhere as well, such as during the Paris Fiac: ‘Some of the strongest museum shows are now put on during fairs.’130 This ‘destination’ aspect is bolstered by the activities around them: the VIP programmes featuring visits to local collections, talks and, of course, the parties. Art Basel Miami Beach in particular is renowned for its sometimes highly decadent parties, with the combination of tropical climate, Latin-American lustiness, availability of drugs and luxury hotels that seem to invite excess, with draped beds – some equipped with television screens – dotted around the swimming pools. ‘Art Basel Miami Beach is an excuse for people to take five days off and basically go nuts,’ says one dealer who knows the scene well.131 Luxury-goods brands were not slow to join the party, spotting the opportunity to piggy-back on the prestige of the art world, and of course many employ artists to design their wares.
…
pagewanted=all&src=pm. 108 Interview with the author, September 2013. 109 Interview with the author, October 2013. 110 Interview with the author, October 2013. 111 Anonymous, interview with the author, May 2013. 112 Thompson, The $12 million Stuffed Shark, p.53. 113 This and further quotations: conversation with the author, October 2013. 114 Freeland, Plutocrats, p.4. 115 Perrotin has denied to me on a number of occasions that he gave his pass, saying he was the ‘fall guy’ for other dealers who had done the same thing. 116 Anonymous, conversation with the author, 2011. 117 Conversation with the author, Art Basel, 2011. 118 Kenny Schachter, ‘Further adventures in the Wade Guyton Market’, Gallerist, 22 October 2013, http://galleristny.com/2013/10/further-adventures-in-the-wade-guyton-market. 119 Conversation with the author, September 2013. 120 Thomas Seydoux, interview with the author, March 2013. 121 Thompson, The $12m Stuffed Shark, p.186. 122 Isabelle Graw, High Price – Art Between the Art Market and Celebrity Culture, Sternberg Press, Berlin, 2009, p.73. 123 Maria Lind and Olav Velthuis (eds.), Contemporary Art and Its Commercial Markets: A Report on Current Conditions and Future Scenarios, Sternberg Press, Berlin, 2012, pp 118–19. 124 Skate’s Art Market Research, ‘2012 Annual Investment Report Part 2’, Skate’s, February 2013, http://skatesart.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/skates-annual-art-investment-report-2012-part-2.pdf, p.11. 125 Interview with the author, 2013. 126 Anonymous, interview with the author, February 2013. 127 Conversation with the author, March 2013. 128 ‘The Art Basel effect: How the fair has impacted Miami’s economy’, AFA News, 30 November 2011, http://www.afanews.com/home/item/1095-the-art-basel-effect-how-the-fair-has-impacted-miami per centE2 per cent80 per cent99s-economy#.UcLO8PmTjKA. 129 Interview with the author, February 2013. 130 Conversation with the author, December 2013. 131 Anonymous, conversation with the author, May 2013. 132 Adam Lindemann, ‘Occupy Art Basel Miami Beach now!’, New York Observer, 29 October 2011, http://www.adamlindemann.com/occupy-art-basel-miami-beach-now. 133 Lindemann, ‘Occupy’. 134 ‘Critics’ roundtable: What was the cultural event of 2012?’ NY Magazine, 12 March 2012, http://www.vulture.com/2012/11/culture-critics-roundtable.html. 135 Edward Helmore and Paul Gallagher, ‘Doyen of American critics turns his back on the “nasty, stupid” world of modern art’, Observer, 28 October 2011, http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/oct/28/art-critic-dave-hickey-quits-art-world. 136 Lind and Velthuis, Contemporary Art, p.92. 137 Julia Halperin, ‘What’s a fair worth?
Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art
by
Michael Shnayerson
Published 20 May 2019
“But I am very happy about that overlap.”35 For this new breed of art advisor, Art Basel Miami Beach was the market’s new epicenter, starting in December 2002. “That was the real bonfire of the vanities,” Schiff noted. “Suddenly there was this excitement about contemporary art. I was quite young, so I wasn’t on top of what was happening at auctions.” But in Miami, Schiff didn’t need to be. The game was in hearing who bought what in the opening minutes of Art Basel Miami Beach, and then snapping up those same artists before everyone else did. Don and Mera Rubell, who had lobbied hard for Art Basel Miami Beach, had come a long way since their $25 art buying trips to the East Village.
…
They had also moved to Miami, where in 1993 they purchased and repurposed a US Drug Enforcement Agency warehouse as a noncommercial gallery, which soon enough became a nonprofit, publicly accessible one. They continued to buy several hundred pieces of art a year, and by 2018 would have a collection of more than 6,800 works by more than 800 artists. Though they prized all their art and held on to most of it, they did occasionally sell or barter.36 At that first Art Basel Miami Beach, the Rubells established a new tradition with an opening night party for hundreds at their warehouse, showcasing the work of new artists they liked. The work wasn’t for sale, but the show promoted the Rubells’ new finds and put them into the orbit of top dealers and art advisors. The Rubells started every day with an hour of singles tennis on the court beside their warehouse; they played hard, and they pushed hard for each new artist they felt was potentially great.
…
The Rubells started every day with an hour of singles tennis on the court beside their warehouse; they played hard, and they pushed hard for each new artist they felt was potentially great. When asked what he thought of the soaring contemporary market, Don Rubell would scowl and wave the question away. The Rubells cared about art, they declared, not the art market. But in art, as in tennis, they liked to win. ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH DID MORE than bring dealers and collectors together for three days of art talk and fun. It pushed prices of hot artists ever higher, as did its precursor, Art Basel. “One day Mark Grotjahn was an artist making a living,” Schiff noted. “The next, all his work is being sold at auction.” Grotjahn’s butterfly paintings were soaring higher than almost anyone else’s work.
Picnic Comma Lightning: In Search of a New Reality
by
Laurence Scott
Published 11 Jul 2018
The recent proliferation of the #MeToo movement has seen its aims both celebrated and contested, with some arguing that it ‘does little to dismantle the underlying problem’ of sexual abuse. Many others, meanwhile, cheer its attack on that ancient fortress of misogyny. The American Civil Liberties Union, in particular, has promised to continue the work of #MeToo in ‘Dismantling Sexual Harassment’. Discussing the women artists showcased at the 2017 Art Basel Miami Beach, Guardian journalist Janelle Zara challenges the ‘prevailing mythology’ that ‘the gendered power balance of the status quo will magically dismantle itself’. Intentionally or not, the rhetoric of these movements echoes the famous activist Audre Lorde’s maxim of resistance, ‘The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.’
…
Jeremy Hunt is dismantling our health service by stealth’, Yorkshire Post, 4th December 2017, Simon Tilford, ‘Brexit poses a bigger threat …’, Independent, 25th March 2018; ‘is dismantling the …’, Malcolm Nance interview with ‘AM Joy’, MSNBC, 18th December 2017; ‘dismantling democracy’, David Cay Johnston interview with Michael Krasny, KQED News, 14th February 2018; ‘the long project …’, see Jude Blanchette, quoted in Tom Phillips’s article ‘Xi Jinping to cement his power with plan to scrap two-term limit’, Guardian, 25th February 2018. 11 ‘help expose and …’, Sirry Alang, ‘How to dismantle racism and prevent police brutality’, USA Today, 12th May 2017; ‘does little to …’, see Sarah Sophie Flicker, ‘Why the “Me Too” Moment is Just the Start of a Necessary Cultural Shift’, W Magazine, 22nd November 2017; ‘“prevailing mythology” that …’, Janelle Zara, ‘“There’s a lot of grief to process”: how the #MeToo movement gripped Art Basel Miami Beach’, Guardian, 13th December 2017; ‘The master’s tools …’, Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider (Trumansberg: Crossing Press, 1984). 12 ‘(picnic, lightning)’, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (London: Penguin, 1995 [1955]). Bedtime Stories 1 ‘yellow cream and …’, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (London: HarperCollins, 1995 [1968]); ‘your part of …’, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows (London: Puffin, 2015 [1908]); ‘wonderful tales’, C.
1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die, Updated Ed.
by
Patricia Schultz
Published 13 May 2007
Focused on seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients and casual cuisine, the menu has plenty of seafood, but you’ll also find dishes like Mongolian Duck Meatballs served with carrot-parsnip mash and corn relish, or chicken wings “Korean style” with gochujang barbeque marinade and a sesame-honey-mustard drizzle. For dessert, try the “Cubano,” a guava and cream-cheese bread pudding topped with maple-can-died pecans. WHERE: 21 Almeria Ave. Tel 305-446-6767; www.normans.com. COST: dinner $60. BEST TIME: New Year’s Eve for a special celebration. The International Art Market Does Miami ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH Miami Beach, Florida It began in the Swiss town of Basel, where since 1969 art collectors and connoisseurs have gathered each June for the prestigious Art Basel fair. In 2002 the fair’s management held its first U.S. sister fair in Miami Beach’s art deco district, and within three years the event had become the hottest annual art event in the country, eclipsing longtime standouts like New York’s Armory Show and Art Chicago.
…
In 2002 the fair’s management held its first U.S. sister fair in Miami Beach’s art deco district, and within three years the event had become the hottest annual art event in the country, eclipsing longtime standouts like New York’s Armory Show and Art Chicago. Blame Miami itself, maybe. Already feeling confident as one of the new stars of international favor, the city took to the fair. Art Basel Miami Beach represents the apotheosis of the art scene arguably created by Andy Warhol in the 1970s and ’80s: a mixture of fine art, fashion, film, music, nightlife, and ostentatious wealth. Nearly every major contemporary gallery in the world competes for the limited number of exhibitors’ spaces at the Miami Convention Center, with the winners trucking in untold millions in art.
…
Miami’s museums stage special exhibits, buildings by renowned architects offer tours, private collectors open their homes for invitation-only parties and exhibitions, and the unaffiliated New Art Dealers Alliance stages its own fair at the nearby Ice Palace Film Studio. The great part, of course, is that you don’t have to be an art collector to enjoy the show and its attendant circus. You’ll probably have a better time if you’re just trying to enjoy the Next Big Thing—not buy it. Art Basel Miami Beach features 20th- and 21st-century artworks by over 1,500 artists. WHERE: Miami Beach Convention Center and other venues. Tel 305-674-1292; www.artbasel.com. COST: day tickets $20; 3-day pass $50. WHEN: 3 days in early Dec. NEW ART DEALERS ALLIANCE FAIR: www.newartdealers.org. When: 5 days in early Dec.
The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy
by
Bruce Katz
and
Jennifer Bradley
Published 10 Jun 2013
Florida International University, College of Business, “Graduate Dual Degree,” 2013 (http://business.fiu.edu/international_programs/ip_graduate_dual_ degree.cfm). See also Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing, “Dual Degree Requirements,” 2013 (www.espm.br/Unidades/SaoPaulo/PosGraduacao/MBA Executivo/Documents/ESPMAppendix1MBA.pdf). 90. See Art Basel, “Miami Beach: 2012 Galleries,” 2012 (www.artbasel.com/en/ Miami-Beach/About-the-Show/2012-Galleries). 91. McKinsey and Company, “Winning the $30 Trillion Decathlon,” pp. 9–10. 92. Henri Pirenne, Economic and Social History of Medieval Europe (Abingdon, U.K.: Routledge, 2006), p. 150. 93. Mark Lardas, “The Heritage of the Hansa,” German Life 2 (October– November 2004). 94.
Back to Blood
by
Tom Wolfe
Published 1 Jan 2012
She was in the know. Advising rich people, like Fleischmann, about what very expensive art to buy was her business, and she knew all about this “fair.” If somebody called it “Miami Art Basel,” thinking that was the full name, she would inform him in some mostly polite way that it was officially Art Basel Miami Beach… and that those in the know didn’t call it “Miami Art Basel” for short. No, they called it “Miami Basel.” She could fire off sixty in the know cracks a minute. At this very moment, A.A. was saying, “So I ask her—I ask her what she’s interested in, and she says to me, ‘I’m looking for something cutting-edge… like a Cy Twombly.’
Eastern USA
by
Lonely Planet
Goombay Festival CULTURE (www.goombayfestivalcoconutgrove.com) This massive fest, held in Coconut Grove on the first week of June, celebrates Bahamian culture. White Party MUSIC (www.whiteparty.net) This weeklong extravaganza in November draws more than 15,000 gay men and women for nonstop partying all over town. Art Basel Miami Beach ART (www.artbaselmiamibeach.com) An internationally important art show held each December – a sister event to Art Basel Switzerland. Sleeping Miami Beach is the well-hyped mecca for stylish boutique hotels in renovated art-deco buildings. To find them and other chic options, check out www.miamiboutiquehotels.com.
USA Travel Guide
by
Lonely, Planet
Goombay Festival CULTURE (www.goombayfestivalcoconutgrove.com) This massive fest, held in Coconut Grove on the first week of June, celebrates Bahamian culture. White Party MUSIC (www.whiteparty.net) This weeklong extravaganza in November draws more than 15,000 gay men and women for nonstop partying all over town. Art Basel Miami Beach ART (www.artbaselmiamibeach.com) An internationally important art show held each December – a sister event to Art Basel Switzerland. Sleeping Miami Beach is the well-hyped mecca for stylish boutique hotels in renovated art-deco buildings. To find them and other chic options, check out www.miamiboutiquehotels.com.