The Race to Find New Art Collectors

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Kelly Crow

Korean collector Hong-gyu Shin bid on a $142 million Francis Bacon, but lost Nicholas Hunt/Patrick McMullan

In early May, Christie's invited a group of 18 new collectors from China to visit New York. The auction house threw the guests a lavish dinenr at its Rockefellor Center ballroom, escorted them on guided tours through the Museum of Moden Art and arranged VIP tickets to a local art fair. Christie's efforts paid off: During its May 13 contemporary art ales, members of the grip placed bids on at least half the top 10 priciest pieces in what became an historic $745 million auction. [link]

A quarter of all art-auction sales were made to first-time buyers this year. An inside look at Sotheby's and Christie's global quest to identify and recruit them.

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Katie Longmyer Connects Young Artists to Corporate Types

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jennifer Miller

NEW YORK---On a chilly night not long ago, Katie Longmyer sat behind the D.J. in the Living Room Bar at the W New York Downtown hotel and surveyed her creation: fashion-industry denizens, purveyors of high art and Lower East Side hipsters, all dancing with gleeful abandon. That’s tricky. She calls herself a “business artist,” a title she made up. As she explains it, companies are eager to harness the “authenticity” of young artists, but they lack access to those subcultures. Artists, meanwhile, want a platform for their work, but they don’t want to be co-opted or accused of selling out. [link]

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Agree or Disagree: We Should Let Some Arts Organizations Die?

MEDIUM
By Devon Smith

Arts organizations are already dying. In Detroit, in New York City, in the UK. From operas to art galleries. This is no longer an urban versus rural debate. A nonprofit versus for profit debate. A “one discipline is dying” but “others are inexplicably thriving” debate. This is a simple acknowledgement that the industry represented by the people and organizations in this room, is in decline. And I think that not only should we allow it, we should encourage it. Tracked by their 990s, over the past 20 years, 40% of arts organizations have perished. But they are being replaced even faster. For every arts org that survived between 1990 — 2010, 2.6 more were born (NEA Research Art Works).Instead of, “Do we allow failing organizations to die?” what if we were asking, “How do we save ONLY those organizations who are succeeding?” [link]

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