http://dcartnews.blogspot.com/saatchi-smoking.jpg
From Medici to Saatchi
The influence of individual collectors in the contemporary art world
In 'The invention of art: a cultural history' Larry Shiner speaks of two periods in art history – the patronage period and the art market period. His thesis is that with the advent of the art market in which works of art could be traded freely, the primacy of the patron as instigator of production of artworks, sponsor of artists and the ultimate consumer of artistic outputs, was at an end.
A range of other factors can also be seen as diminishing the role of patronage, from the emergence of representative forms of government c.f. monarchies. Public institutions like museums and libraries, took over custodianship of cultural outputs, while government grants, private galleries and dealers took over financial support. It would seem that a democratised version of the patron, would be reduced to a mere collector, a consumer in this model.
Nonetheless, individual patrons continue to achieve global renown and appear to have continued to play a pivotal role in art market model. Figures like Gertrude Stein achieved major historical recognition for her part in shaping the landscape of the art world. ArtReview Magazine, publishes an annual edition of Power 100, listing the most influential figures in the world of art. In 2005, 19 out of 100 were denominated as collectors, ranking among museum directors, gallerists, curators, publishers and academics.
Clearly, individual patrons remain highly influential, but what, if any, is the practical impact their patronage has on shaping the market for art and shaping direction of art and even art history?
In particular, I want to focus on two of the world’s biggest patrons: Charles Saatchi in Britain and Eli Broad in the U.S.A. to assess the impact on contemporary movements in art and the market for contemporary art. By way of comparison I also want to investigate the impact on art history from collecting efforts of a collector such as Andrew Lloyd Webber. I also want to bring this investigation into the Australian perspective by assessing the role and impact of collectors like Pat Corrigan and the Besen family.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/cacc3dae-479a-11da-a949-00000e2511c8.html
reference to ‘Meet art’s most powerful man’ article in the Financial Times about the Art Review Power 100 By Jackie Wullschlager, Published: October 28 2005
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/09/17/bapre17.xml
reference to ‘A lord and his masters’ in The Telegraph by Richard Dorment about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s collection of Pre-Raphaelite art published 17 September 2003)
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/saatchi/story/0,,928837,00.html
reference to ‘He's gotta have it’ an in depth story by Jonathan Jones in the Guardian about Charles Saatchi and the scope of his patronage, published on 4 April, 2003.
http://www.broadartfoundation.org/collection/index.html
reference to the website of the Broad Art Foundation, founded by Eli Broad
http://www.crikey.com.au/articles/2006/05/19-0908-5771.html
Reference to ‘Wealthy Australian philanthropists’ an article by Jane Nethercote and Marika Webb-Pullman reviewing the BRW Rich list by assessing philanthropic activities including the arts, of Australia’s richest, on www.crikey.com.au, published on 19 May 2006
http://www.visualarts.net.au/nava/nava_supporters.asp
reference to article on Pat Corrigan’s contribution to the arts in Australia