The Wall Street Journal's recent profile of mega dealer Larry Gagosian instinctively evokes comparisons with other historically important dealers like Joseph Duveen and Leo Castelli. Each man pushed beyond the concept of the art dealer that prevailed during his time and took the profession in new directions by creating new markets for art. While comparisons between the work of the three men are therefore appropriate, it would be incorrect to trace a direct lineage from one dealer to the next; Duveen and Castelli directed the flow of cultural goods between Europe and America, while Gagosian harnessed the power of a globally integrated art world.
British dealer Joseph Duveen (1869-1939) was born into a family of art and antique dealers, and brought Renaissance painting and European Old Masters from Europe to the newly wealthy American industrialists like Andrew Mellon and John D. Rockefeller. In his time, Duveen was seen as a great opportunist; he perceptively saw that declining wealth in Europe would make important artworks in private collections and museums available for purchase at distressed prices. Duveen then acquired these pieces and resold them to the newly wealth American "robber barons," thereby creating many important private collections in the United States that have lasted to this day. Many of these collections later became the cornerstones of American museums, which until then had had limited access to these great artworks. Duveen was able to achieve this through a network of employees in London, Paris, and New York, whom he would dispatch across Europe and the United States as necessary to acquire an artwork or complete a sale to a collector. Furthermore, collectors and dealers alike referred to works that passed through the dealer's hands as "Duveens," perhaps marking the first time that a dealer's identity played such a strong role in the provenance of a work.
Leo Castelli (1907-1999), a European transplant to New York, only slowly established himself as an art dealer, first through his interest in art as a collector and curator and only later as a dealer. His legacy includes the transformation of the New York art scene from an art market to the foremost creator of contemporary art ahead of its Paris and London counterparts. Specifically, he is noteworthy because he brought American artists to Europe and reversed the previous flow of artworks and culture from Europe to the United States. He seized on the creative momentum of a group of artists, such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, who originally received little critical support from the art market, but who would eventually be recognized as having revolutionized contemporary art. While frequently not considered a successful businessman despite his deep commitment to the artists with whom he worked, Castelli believed that the success of his artists was dependent his willingness to share them with other dealers so as to increase their exposure to previously inaccessible markets. Castelli helped organize exhibitions of his artists' work with dealers in the United States and Europe, including Irving Blum in Los Angeles and Ileana Sonnabend in Paris.
Today, the flow of cultural exchanges is more fluid and relies on a more globally integrated network. Larry Gagosian may be the first dealer of the 21st century to fully succeed in capitalizing on this structural change in the art market. Gagosian represents 77 international artists and has 11 galleries worldwide with the "largest blue-chip franchise ever attempted in the industry." Regardless of whether Gagosian outposts in previously overlooked places such as Rome or Athens are independently viable businesses at this time, they reflect the expansive network in which an artist or collector can partake in the global diffusion of art and cultural exchange. The Gagosian model also echoes today's art world, where the most prestigious artists, collectors, and dealers attend a string of art events around the world, blurring the distinction between a New York market, a London market, or a Hong Kong market.
Duveen, Castelli, and Gagosian understood the dynamic and evolving nature of the art dealing business and foresaw new ways in which to dramatically direct the flow of cultural goods and develop new markets. The success of these three dealers was made possible by many other dealers' contribution to the shift in cultural exchanges and the creation of new markets. For example, in the post-war period, Castelli was much indebted to his first wife Ileana Sonnabend, whose first gallery in Paris contributed widely to the success of Castelli's artists, who she frequently exhibited at the gallery. And today, in addition to Gagosian, the emergence of galleries with outposts in multiple cities has become an increasingly necessary way to access and keep up with artists and collectors across the globe in an increasingly interconnected art market.