Gagosian Gallery An Impending Crisis? Charles Shoener DYNM 672 May 1, 2013
Larry Gagosian o Born in 1945 (68 years old) o Owner of Gagosian Gallery o High-end, blue-chip contemporary art gallery o Widely regarded as the most important living gallerist o 2012 ArtReview Power 100 : #2 (overall) o Highly secretive in dealings (norm in the art world) o Estimated annual sales: ~ $1 billion http://www.style.com/slideshows/parties/091808gago/01m.jpg
Gagosian Gallery 1 LA Location 3 NYC Locations 2 London Locations 2 Paris Locations 1 Athens Location 1 Geneva Location 1 Rome Location 1 Hong Kong Location http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/1942.11_blank_world_map.png Currently operates 12 galleries throughout the world.
Twenty Five Major Contemporary Artists 1. Jasper Johns 2. Andy Warhol 3. Gerhard Richter 4. Bruce Nauman 5. Roy Lichtenstein 6. Robert Rauschenberg 7. Joseph Beuys 8. Ed Ruscha 9. Francis Bacon 10. Lucien Freud 11. Cy Twombly 12. Damien Hirst 13. Jeff Koons 14. Martin Kippenberger 15. Donald Judd 16. Willem de Kooning 17. Takashi Murakami 18. Peter Fischli/David Weiss 19. Richard Serra 20. Antoni Tapies 21. Maurizio Cattelan 22. Andreas Gursky 23. David Hockney 24. Richard Diebenkorn 25. Jean-Michel Basquiat List courtesy of: Thompson, Don. The $12 Million Stuffed Shark. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 56.
Twenty Five Major Contemporary Artists 1. Jasper Johns 2. Andy Warhol 3. Gerhard Richter 4. Bruce Nauman 5. Roy Lichtenstein 6. Robert Rauschenberg 7. Joseph Beuys 8. Ed Ruscha 9. Francis Bacon 10. Lucien Freud 11. Cy Twombly 12. Damien Hirst 13. Jeff Koons 14. Martin Kippenberger 15. Donald Judd 16. Willem de Kooning 17. Takashi Murakami 18. Peter Fischli/David Weiss 19. Richard Serra 20. Antoni Tapies 21. Maurizio Cattelan 22. Andreas Gursky 23. David Hockney 24. Richard Diebenkorn 25. Jean-Michel Basquiat List courtesy of: Thompson, Don. The $12 Million Stuffed Shark. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 56. Emphasis added.
What crisis?
Losing Key Artists o 2010 Loses Hiroshi Sugimoto and the Willem de Kooning estate to Pace Gallery. o December 6, 2012 Jeff Koons announces gallery show with David Zwirner Gallery. o December 13, 2012 Damien Hirst and Gagosian Gallery part after 17 years. o December 14, 2012 Yayoi Kusama announces split with Gagosian Gallery. http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/guardian/pix/pictures/2012/12/19/1355927383710/damien-hirst-006.jpg http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01437/jeff-koons-popeye_1437723c.jpg
Losing Key Artists Jeff Koons T: http://www.luxuo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/tulips-by-jeff-koons.jpg B: http://thepandorian.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/new35_sm.jpg Yayoi Kusama T: http://www.friendsofart.net/static/images/art3/yayoi-kusama-infinity-nets-yellow.jpg B: http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1436/538887901_79991743ff_o.jpg Damien Hirst T: http://artobserved.com/artimages/2012/11/damien-hirst-shark.jpg B: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/images/content/damien-hirst.jpg
Lawsuits http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4e4d16c5ecad04ac75000005/larry-gagosian.jpg Billionaire (and Penn alumnus) Ron Perelman filed a suit in New York State Supreme Court against Larry Gagosian on September 12, 2012. The suit alleges: o Gagosian acted in a conflict of interest by representing both the buyer and seller o Gagosian had a secret agreement with artist Jeff Koons that directed more sale profits to the artist instead of Perelman Two other recent lawsuits allege breach of fiduciary duty by Gagosian. http://i.usatoday.net/money/_photos/2012/01/24/perelman-suit-is-billionaire-vsmillionaire-90sp7bj-x-large.jpg
Succession There is a legitimate question of who will take over the Gagosian Galleries when Gagosian himself is no longer able to run the galleries. http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/wk-ax331e_cover_g_20110331234402.jpg
Actionable Proposal
Auction Houses Highest Auction Revenues Christie s and Sotheby s have annual revenues much greater than Gagosian. Bonhams and Phillips have annual revenues lower than Gagosian. Lowest Auction Revenues
Sources
2012 Power 100. Art Review (2012): Online Periodical. Internet. Apr. 2013. Available: http://www.artreview100.com/2012-power-100/. Barclays Wealth and Investment Management. Profit or Pleasure?: Exploring the Motivations Behind Treasure Trends. London: Barclays, 2012. Contact. Gagosian Gallery (2013): Gallery Website. Internet. Apr. 2013. Available: http://www.gagosian.com/contact. Corbett, Rachel. Why Did Hirst & Co. Leave? A Look Back at Gagosian Artist Defections. Blouin Artinfo (17 Dec. 2012): Online Periodical. Internet. Apr. 2013. Available: http://blogs.artinfo.com/abovetheestimate/2012/12/17/why-did-hirst-co-leave-a-look-back-at-gagosian-artist-defections/. Crow, Kelly. The Larry Gagosian Effect. The Wall Street Journal (1 Apr. 2011): Online Periodical. Internet. Apr. 2013. Available: http://online.wsj.com/article/ SB10001424052748703712504576232791179823226.html. Dolmetsch, Chris. Perelman, Gagosian Gallery Sue Each Other Over Art Sales. Bloomberg (12 Sep. 2012): Online Periodical. Internet. Apr. 2013. Available: http:// www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-12/ronald-perelman-sued-by-gagosian-gallery-for-breach-of-contract.html. Esman, Abigail R. America s Most Powerful Art Dealers. Forbes (21 May 2012): Online Periodical. Internet. Apr. 2013. Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ michaelnoer/2012/05/03/americas-most-powerful-art-dealers/. Ferro, Shane. Larry Gagosian and Jan Cowles Reportedly Settle Lawsuit Over Lichtenstein Work. Blouin Artinfo (8 Mar. 2013): Online Periodical. Internet. Apr. 2013. Available: http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2013/03/08/larry-gagosian-and-jan-cowles-reportedly-settle-lawsuit-over-lichtenstein-work/. Galenson, David W. Artists and the Market: From Leonardo and Titian to Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. Conceptual Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Art. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press and the National Bureau of Economic Research, 2009. Chapter 15. Galenson, David W. Painting by Proxy: The Conceptual Artist as Manufacturer. Conceptual Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Art. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press and the National Bureau of Economic Research, 2009. Chapter 9. Halperin, Julie. Larry Gagosian Testifies About His Business Practice So What Do We Learn? Blouin Artinfo (7 Nov. 2012): Online Periodical. Internet. 12 Mar. 2013. Available: http://www.artinfo.com/print/node/839321. Kennedy, Randy. The Art of the Dealer. T: The New York Times Style Magazine (21 Mar. 2013): Online Periodical. Internet. 25 Mar. 2013. Available: http:// tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/21/the-art-of-the-dealer/. Reyburn, Scott. Christie s Sales Climb 10% Led by Record Rothko Painting. Bloomberg (16 Jan. 2013): Online Periodical. Internet. Apr. 2013. Available: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-17/christie-s-sales-climb-10-as-rothko-leads-contemporary-demand.html. Thompson, Don. The $12 Million Stuffed Shark. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.