The Art Newspaper

Bonfire of the Vanities

By The Art Newspaper. From In The Frame
Published online: 28 September 2009

It’s been a rough year for the market, but it must have really stung when certain art world figures received their monthly subscription to Vanity Fair. For September’s issue included the magazine’s list of the 100 most important movers and shakers of the past year, and there were some noticeable absentees. Mega dealer Larry Gagosian, who came in at #38 last year, was left off completely while his star artist, Damien Hirst, was relegated to the “Pit Stop”, a sort of celebrity limbo where the publication placed individuals they hope will regain their glory with “a little grit and determination”. Hirst is kept company in the pit with collector Steve Cohen, who has been working hard to keep his hedge fund business in the black. Meanwhile to add insult to injury, Russian collector Roman Abramovich is singled out by the magazine in a much less flattering list, as among one of “The 100 to Blame” for the economic recession. But some prove just too high to topple, like collectors and private museum founders Charles Saatchi and François Pinault, who are both enshrined in Vanity Fair’s Hall of Fame.