New York is still one of the big centers of the art world, and having a showing in the city still means a lot to an emerging artist trying to establish a name in the industry. But it is more of an industry here than it ever was before, and that might be true for every kind of art that people can sell. The city attracts artists as much as it attracts people who are good with numbers, and that can make for a lethal combination in art.
It’s one thing to visit and set foot outside of a gracious hotel and see some institutional art in the great institutions, but quite another to find small gallery spaces in Alphabet City and discover something essential and completely new. Those kinds of excitements might be fewer and farther between, or it may just be the cycle of history playing through again.
The art world at large does have a debt to Peggy Guggenheim , who was fortunate enough to be born extremely wealthy. She spent her life cultivating artists, and turned a few into lovers along the way, and made it possible for a number of struggling artists to make a living doing their work. When the institutional support wasn’t available, and it rarely is, she paid them herself so that they could keep working.
There were a lot of people in the world who didn’t like her, and Picasso was among these, who thought Guggenheim a dilettante. It does seem to be a misfortune that falls on strong women who play games where men are trying to hold the field. Her Art of the Century Gallery was a major turning point, and although it was only open for a few years, closing after Max Ernst ended their marriage and drove her back to Europe, it brought work to the U.S. It also gave a place for the artists she was cultivating a place to show. Whether or not her tastes were conceits or genuine, they did ring true with a pulse that ran through every layer of the local avant garde.