Fall ForecastBy Robert Ayers
Published: September 2, 2008
Ray Waterhouse, dealer, London Looking forward to: Our two shows of Middle Eastern and Arab art, which will be the most extensive selling shows ever held in London. We are promoting them widely in western Europe and the United States; I'm really looking forward to seeing how they are received. The other thing, with perhaps more trepidation, is seeing how the market reacts after the summer break. I hate the summer season when there are no shows or auctions, and there is so little to buy. I love doing deals! Big trend: Less speculative buying. New directors: Dunno.
Looking forward to: I’m looking forward to a more temperate market. There’s too much art in the world, too many auctions, and far too many art fairs. If there’s a benefit to a downturn in the economy, it will be the curtailment of the rashest excesses of the art world. Big trend: I won’t make any predictions in aesthetic terms, because things are so polycentric and pluralistic. That’s a positive trend in itself: New doors will open to reflect the global market that exists outside of the art world, and the U.S. will become hospitable not only to art from China, but to hidden treasures from places like Japan, India, and Israel. New directors: Were Anne d'Harnoncourt still alive, she’d have made a great candidate for the Met post, though I doubt very much that she’d have left Philadelphia. As it is, I could see Michael Govan — who I don’t think would mind being called a protégé of Thomas Krens — at the Guggenheim. He’s much more suited to the Guggenheim than the Met. For the Met, there’s Rusty Powell, but Peter Marzio or James Wood would be my first choices.
Looking forward to: There are two museum shows that I am very excited to see: Mark Rothko at Tate Modern and “The Master of Flémalle and Rogier van der Weyden: The Birth of Modern Painting” at the Staedel Museum in Frankfurt. These two exhibitions bookend my interests in abstraction and realism in painting. Of course the biggest thing I am looking forward to is the opening of our new gallery building. This project has been four years in the making, and the building will feature two galleries for solo presentations, a dedicated media room for digital work, and an outdoor courtyard space. Another aspect of the building is its location in northeast Washington, D.C. This area has long been ignored, and we look forward to being a part of the revitalization. Big trend: I believe the big new trend this season will be a movement toward purism. With a more discerning art market and audience, I think we will see a curatorial pullback from exhibitions that present a synthesis between art and rock music, fashion, film, etc. Fine artists will get back to their roots, do what they do best, and make significant contributions to current culture and, hopefully, art history. With that, gallerists will scramble to become sincere about art again. New directors: The Guggenheim? Hilary Clinton! The Met, I’m not so sure. Here’s my question: Who will be named director of the Hirshhorn?
Big trend: The big trend this year is foreign money and foreign markets. With America’s weak dollar and more billionaires coming online everyday from India, Russia, China, the UAE, et al, what better place to speculate than the inefficient and mostly unregulated economy that is the art world. New directors: I predict eastern interests will acquire both institutions, creating “MegaHeim,” which will be shepherded by a towheaded hero from the West.
Looking forward to: Marc Handelman at Sikkema Jenkins, Dana Frankfort at Bellwether. At my gallery, Phoebe Washburn, Anton Henning, Nathalie Djurberg, and Justin Lieberman (in order of exhibition schedule).
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