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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) The art world of cosmopolitan collectors: In relation to mediators, institutions and producers Gnyp, M. Publication date 2015 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Gnyp, M. (2015). The art world of cosmopolitan collectors: In relation to mediators, institutions and producers. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:04 Oct 2021 THE ART WORLD OF COSMOPOLITAN COLLECTORS In relation to mediators, institutions and producers ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op woensdag 9 september 2015, te 10.00 uur door Marta Gnyp geboren te Jaworzno, Polen Promotiecommissie Promotor: Prof. dr. B. Kempers Universiteit van Amsterdam Copromotor: Dr. O.J.M. Velthuis Universiteit van Amsterdam Overige leden: Prof. dr. A.F.W. Bosman Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. C.M.K.E. Lerm-Hayes Universiteit van Amsterdam Dr. F. Kuyvenhoven Rijkdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed Dr. G.M. Langfeld Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. T.R.A. de Rijk Universiteit Leiden Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen Contents Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction 1 - Punta della Dogana 1 - Art market, art world, art field and network in a global context 3 - Networks of actors 8 - Data and methods 12 1. Collecting and its histories 17 - Introduction 17 - Socio-historical research on collecting 17 - A form of human behavior 21 - Types of collectibles and modes of display 22 - Collectors as principled characters 23 - Collecting light 25 - Conclusion 26 2. Artistic transformations at the end of the 20th century 27 - Introduction 27 - Going public: artistic strategies of Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst 28 - Empowerment of the viewer 33 - Broadening of art territory 35 - Conclusion 38 3. Mapping global collecting 39 - Introduction 39 - Collectors everywhere: facts and myths 39 - Globalization and artistic centers 49 - The dominancy of North-Western collectors 51 - Conclusion 59 4. Popularity of contemporary art and its social life 61 - Introduction 61 - Preference for contemporary art versus art from other historical periods 61 - Social attractiveness of contemporary art 65 - The art calendar 69 - Social events as adhesives of the art world 73 - Miracles, glamour and celebrity culture 76 - Feeling the time of now 79 - Contemporary art: investment and speculation 82 - The aura of quick profit 86 - Conclusion 90 5. Distribution networks: galleries and auction houses 92 - Introduction 92 - Where cultural and economic capital meet 92 - Art fairs: a love and hate relationship 101 - Cracks in the system 105 - Auction houses and their attractive uncomplicatedness 110 - Setting own taste at rest: art advisors 116 - Conclusion 119 6. Codes: The forbidden love for money 121 - Introduction 121 - A good collector never sells 121 - A good collector buys with his eyes and not with his ears 129 - Long-term collectors versus newcomers 133 - Best buys 138 - Conclusion 142 7. Private museums and public displays 144 - Introduction 144 - Motives to share private collections with the public 144 - Visibility as the way to secure access to works 151 - Private museum as place of distinction and exchange 154 - Private spaces and public museums 157 - Mutual interdependencies and their risks 163 - Conclusion 170 8. In pursuit of the right discoveries 172 - Introduction 172 - A mercantile novel of Oscar Murillo 172 - Wet art 179 - Miraculous resurrections 190 - Conclusion 194 Conclusions 195 List of Tables 202 Bibliography 204 Summary in English 233 Summary in Dutch 239 Preface This book is the result of a research in the field of contemporary art that I have conducted between 2010 and 2014. However, the ideas for the study have originated from an earlier period and relate to my various activities in the field of contemporary art. I started to collect art in 2007, was active as art historian and lecturer at the University of Amsterdam between 2009 and 2011, as art journalist as of 2010, as a gallery partner in 2011, and as art advisor and art dealer as of 2012. Those personal experiences have provided a wealth of information that, together with the theoretical investigations and empirical research, form the basis for the present book. Before I became engaged in various facets of art, I used to work in a successful international corporate structure that operates according to the economic logic of efficiency and profit gaining. The art field seemed to follow different rules and principles, and this appeared to me as a fascinating challenge that I wanted to investigate on different levels. I had been buying artworks but was wondering when I should start calling myself an art collector. I never claimed to be so attached to my acquisitions that I would not consider selling them, which gallerists and other collectors indicated was a feature of a bad collector. These categorizations of good and bad collectors have intrigued me to such an extent that I decided to explore them in depth. At the same time, the research on the phenomenon of collecting offered me even more possibilities to understand how the contemporary art world functions and what it means to experience and own art. The Research Master in Art Studies, which I finished in 2007, not only prepared me for, but also encouraged me to continue academic investigation in the field of art. Equipped with methodological tools, I could observe and analyze various codes of the art world from the different perspectives provided by my activities. Being a lecturer at the university gave me the great opportunity to be involved in the contemporary art discourse; what has struck me in this regard was how little interest the commercial and the theoretical parts of contemporary art have for each other. As an art journalist writing for some international magazines, I had the possibility to interview certain leading contemporary artists. These personal encounters were of great value for understanding the position of the artists nowadays and also their relation to collectors; at the same time, I could observe what choices magazines make when presenting artists and how important visibility has become. My experience as a business partner of one the leading Dutch contemporary art galleries in Amsterdam helped me to understand the art world even better. During that one year, I was confronted with all aspects of running a gallery, organizing shows, approaching collectors, selling artworks, participating in international art fairs and positioning the gallery in the art world. It was also a confrontation with the myths and logics according to which a contemporary art gallery functions. Last, but not least, I have been advising collectors with regard to their collections and acquisitions. Being involved in the daily work with collectors has been an inexhaustible source of observations and information that time and again shed light on the mechanisms that govern the social behavior when buying or selling art. This research has proven even more how complex, rich and dynamic the art field can be. Acknowledgments I am first and foremostly grateful to the two supervisors of this dissertation, Prof. dr. Bram Kempers and Dr. Olav Velthuis. I am indebted to them for their constructive readings and challenging of my ideas and for sharing with me their extended knowledge. My deep gratitude is to the collectors, artists, gallerists and other art professionals who participated in this research. The interviews, conversations and chats about their ideas of art, artists and the art world created the foundations of this study and provided the key to understanding what collecting ethics and collecting habits are. I would also like to thank many of them for their wonderful generosity and hospitality. My media friends deserve a particular recognition. I would like to thank José Klap and Sandor Lubbe, directors of the Zoo Magazine, for our pleasurable cooperation. The interviews with artists, which I conducted for Zoo Magazine and L’Officiel, provided me a great opportunity of having close encounters of the great kind. I’m also grateful to Cornelis Tittel, editor in chief Die Welt, for recognizing the relevance of my research and publishing related articles in Die Welt am Sonntag. Frank van der Engel deserves my thanks for involving me in making of a documentary film about the art world, which turned out to be a source of valuable research material. Introduction Punta Della Dogana Since its opening in 2009, many art professionals and amateurs have visited Punta Della Dogana in Venice: the private center for contemporary art set up by the French entrepreneur François Pinault in the city’s old customs building. Punta Della Dogana was opened to the public after a thorough reconstruction of the 17th century venues by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who has adjusted the buildings in order to function as a museum.