Debate: Ethics in the Art Market on NPR
On February 3rd, 2009, Intelligence Squared (IQ2US) hosted an Oxford-style debate on the motion, “The Art Market Is Less Ethical Than the Stock Market.” Panelists Richard Feigen, Michael Hue-Williams, and Adam Lindemann (”FOR”) and Chuck Close, Amy Cappellazzo, and Jerry Saltz (”AGAINST”) all presented their propositions, and what you get is a riveting exchange between insiders of all sorts from the art world.
My position is that the idea of the art world held by many has become detached from the reality of the billion-dollar, luxury goods industry it has become (until our recent economic meltdown, of course), which is precisely why detailing reasons for market regulation is helpful. Coincidentally, the victorious position sways the audience by a large margin by the end of the debate.
The audio is available on NPR.org, which distributes the series on the web.
Debate Transcript (.PDF link)
Debate Audio (unedited .mp3 link)
[Panelist Biographies after the jump…]
Panelists for the motion
Richard L. Feigen (Yale B.A., 1952; Harvard M.B.A., 1954) is an active collector of early Italian and Baroque paintings, English landscapes, surrealists, Max Beckmann and contemporary art. He founded Richard L. Feigen & Co. art dealers, which had been located in Chicago from 1957 to 1999 and in New York since 1963. He is the author of Tales from the Art Crypt (2000).
Michael Hue-Williams is owner and CEO of Albion Gallery. Albion is the only gallery in London to incorporate a major global program that represents leading international artists including those from emerging markets. Dealing in the primary market, their exhibitions provide a world-wide view of social and cultural issues. Their roster features artists from Africa, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Luxembourg, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Netherlands, UK and USA.
Adam Lindemann is an investor and entrepreneur with a background in industries from energy and communications to real estate and asset management. He has re-launched Ikepod, a Swiss watch design company, in partnership with acclaimed designer Marc Newson. Lindemann is an influential collector of contemporary art and author of Collecting Contemporary, which was published in four languages and dubbed the “most talked about art book” of 2006. He is now finishing his second book entitled Collecting Design, to be released at the Basel art fair in 2009.
Panelists against the motion
Amy Cappellazzo was appointed deputy chairman at Christie’s in January of 2008 and has been the international co-head of Post-War and Contemporary Art since 2001. She has played an active role as a main player in the growth of the art market and has been in the top 15 of the ArtReview “100 Most Important People in the Art World.” Known for her business acumen in the art market she is frequently quoted in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Le Monde, the Times of London, the Guardian, BusinessWeek and Barron’s. Prior to this she was a writer, curator, teacher and art advisor and was instrumental in setting up the Art Basel Miami Beach fair.
Chuck Close’s work has been the subject of more than 150 solo exhibitions including many major museum retrospectives, and he has participated in almost 800 group exhibitions. Close was the recipient of the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton in 2000, the New York State Governor’s Art Award, and the Skowhegan Arts Medal, among many others. He is on the board of several prominent arts organizations, and has received over twenty honorary degrees including one from Yale, his alma mater.
Jerry Saltz is senior art critic for New York magazine. He is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism. He has lectured at Harvard, The Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and many others. He teaches at Columbia University, The School of Visual Arts, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. From 1998 to 2007 he was senior art critic for the Village Voice.
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