As Art Basel’s executives gear up for this year’s 20th anniversary of their Miami Beach fair, they can look back on two decades punctuated with drama. Marc Spiegler, Art Basel’s outgoing director of 15 years, and his replacement, Noah Horowitz, acknowledge that the ride to this landmark year has not always been smooth.
From the outset this fair was buffeted by events beyond management’s control. Its opening was planned for 2001 but was cancelled after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which meant people were not inclined to travel, let alone buy art, and there was an accompanying economic downturn too. There were already huge doubts about whether the Swiss fair, then directed by Sam Keller, had made the right decision to take its weighty Swiss brand to an unlikely US city. “I thought it was a crazy idea. I had never been there, apart from via Grand Theft Auto: Vice City,” Spiegler says, referring to the video game set in a fictional version of Miami.
Others shared his caution — Miami was seen by many as a crime-ridden, cultural desert, at best a sunny retirement city, and a far cry from the real US art market action of New York and Chicago.
Like many of us, Spiegler admits he was proved wrong. He remembers visiting the first Art Basel Miami Beach in 2002 when working as an arts journalist based in Zurich. Ushered into a party in the garden of the collecting couple Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, he says he was struck by two things that went on to define the fair’s success: the overlooked sophistication of the city’s highly engaged collectors, and the draw of events that now seem intrinsic not just to Art Basel Miami Beach (where they do a poolside party pretty well) but to the whole of the contemporary art market. “It wasn’t the done thing at the time,” Spiegler says.
Miami’s other advantage, Spiegler realised, is how close it is to Brazil, a major collector base and a booming economy in the fair’s earlier years. And, of course, the weather helps. “Those first biting days of winter [in New York and Europe] make Miami appealing,” he says.
At the time of the Miami launch, it was unusual for any fair to take its brand overseas, something that became de rigueur for the bigger companies in the intervening 20 years. “Art Basel Miami Beach proved that there was something about Art Basel’s success that could be exported,” Spiegler says.
This laid the ground for Art Basel in Hong Kong, a fair he opened in 2013 and, more recently in Paris — both launches among his highlights of his Art Basel career, which began in 2007. In both instances, the fairs replaced existing events rather than venturing into the complete unknown, as Keller had done in Miami. Art Basel bought out ArtHK, which had launched in 2008, while in Paris the fair group ruffled some feathers when it took the slot of the Fiac fair that had run for nearly 50 years. Increased institutionalisation is not to everyone’s liking in the nuanced art world, but has been an inevitable trend as the market expands in popularity, accompanied by soaring prices for art.
“I started out at a company that had two events and one office in Switzerland with a staff of 22. I am leaving a business that runs four fairs, has more than 100 people in offices around the word and a significant online presence,” Spiegler says. The growing international stature of Art Basel during Spiegler’s reign attracted the media scion James Murdoch, whose company Lupa Systems bought a controlling stake in Art Basel’s parent company MCH Group in 2020.
While Miami has helped Art Basel grow, the fair is certainly credited with helping to power Miami’s cultural scene — and gives a post-Thanksgiving boost to its hotels, restaurants and Uber drivers. “The city was ready for it, but the fair brought more great collectors, more great galleries to town. It delivered an audience, it was showtime,” Spiegler says, with characteristic zeal.
The more understated Horowitz, who worked for Spiegler as Art Basel’s director of Americas between 2015 and 2021 and now rejoins the fair group after a year at Sotheby’s, also saw the city change. “There were a handful of galleries in 2001 and more than 100 in 2019, though what I find more incredible is what has happened since,” he says.
The Covid pandemic brought more people and businesses to Miami, sunny, libertarian and low-tax, as real-estate moguls and sun-seeking snowbirds gave way to crypto bros and high-rolling financiers. The art scene jumped at the opportunity. “It’s not just the absolute numbers that have grown, but the depth and ambition of the galleries that are now here,” Horowitz says. He cites this year’s new entrants, Jupiter and Central Fine galleries, both in North Beach, as well as the growing influence of longer-time locals such as Nina Johnson. The evolution has not just been commercial: Horowitz notes cutting-edge and influential exhibitions at institutions such as the ICA Miami and The Bass Museum.
Horowitz and Spiegler have presided over some eventful editions. At Horowitz’s first show in 2015, there was a violent, though non-fatal, stabbing during the fair (many of us initially thought it was an artistic performance). The following year, the Zika virus threatened to ruin the fair, and then the Convention Center, which has always housed the event, went through a complex renovation, which cut into the exhibition space and was finally completed for the 2018 edition.
Just when everything seemed back on track, the Covid-19 pandemic hit and forced the cancellation of the 2020 fair. Like the other Art Basel fairs that year, Miami had an online edition — which benefited from Horowitz’s experience at the ahead-of-its-time, digital-only VIP Art Fair — and kept business ticking over. Just before last year’s in-person return, by which time Horowitz had left Art Basel, the Omicron variant began to rage. “It was up to me to make Floridians wear a mask,” Spiegler semi-jokes.
This year, Spiegler — who hasn’t said what he is doing after a six-month transition — is handing over the reins, just as an economic recession looks to bite. Horowitz has a bigger company to run than his predecessor inherited in 2007 and comes in as the group’s first chief executive. There is a management structure to finalise — while the plan is for each of the fairs to have an artistic and managing director, the Miami and Basel events still lack direct leadership. Vincenzo de Bellis, until now a curator at Minneapolis’s Walker Art Center, and formerly artistic director of miart (the Milan International Fair of Modern and Contemporary Art), has been appointed to oversee all four fairs and to unlock new ways to expand the brand.
Horowitz has what he describes as a “bird’s eye view” and sees several opportunities to grow the “engine that is Art Basel”, not least in Asia. His year at Sotheby’s has helped him get a broader understanding of some of the commercial facets of the art business, he says. Now, his priority at Art Basel is to maintain Spiegler’s legacy of “an exceptionally strong baseline” of fairs, he says. As the Miami fair opens its biggest edition to date, in a relentlessly international and fragile market, the role is — Horowitz adds — “a high threshold to step into, at all levels”.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
