October 15, 2006

Paris, France - François Pinault of France has topped ArtReview magazine’s 2006 list as the world’s most powerful person in the contemporary art world. This marks the first time that anyone from outside of the United States or the United Kingdom has arrived at the top spot.

Not only did Pinault dethrone last year’s winner, Damien Hirst of the Great Britain, but he also managed to get the best of his luxury brands group rival, Bernard Arnault, the chairman of the LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton group, who failed to even make this year’s cut after finishing in 21st place as recently as 2005.

Pinault’s ascension is largely due to his ownership of the auction house, Christie’s, which had an amazing year by all accounts. Pinault, also the owner of the Gucci fashion group – the owner of French luxury brands Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga - originally wanted to build a museum on the river Seine in Paris. Once his efforts were thwarted by French bureaucrats, he then moved his collection to Venice. As for Arnault, he announced plans for a $127 million art museum in Paris, but no concrete construction has begun. According to some, that may have driven him altogether from the list.

Second on this year’s list is Larry Gagosian of the United States; followed by Nicholas Serota, who heads London's Tate museums; and Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Sam Keller, who runs the Art Basel event, came in at number five and Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp, directors of London's popular Frieze Art Fair came in at number eight. Their presence in the top 10 underlines the growing importance of art fairs.

Rounding out the bottom half of the top 10 are Los Angeles-based Eli Broad in sixth position, followed by Charles Saatchi at seventh, U.S. artists Bruce Nauman, unchanged at number nine, and Jeff Koons, who catapulted from 62nd position in 2005 to 10th.
Damien Hirst fell just outsi...

1 2