Hirst tops list of art's 100 most powerful

Published on Tuesday 14 October 2008 22:13

DAMIEN Hirst has regained his place at the top of the 100 most powerful people in the art world, while the Chelsea football boss Roman Abramovich makes his debut on the list.

Hirst took first place in the rankings in 2005, but dropped to 11th the following year and was sixth in 2007.

The controversial artist's record-breaking 111 million auction at Sotheby's last month catapulted Hirst, 43, back to top place.

Mr Abramovich, who is said to have been the mystery buyer behind two record-breaking art buys at auction this year, makes his debut at No54 with his Russian girlfriend, gallery founder Daria Zhukova.

The Russian billionaire is thought to have bought a Francis Bacon triptych, which at 44 million became the most expensive post-war work ever sold, and the Lucian Freud portrait Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, this year. The Freud work, sold for 17.2 million in May, set the world record for the highest price paid in an auction for a work of art by a living artist.

For the first time, Banksy, the graffiti artist, has landed a spot in this year's ArtReview Power 100, making his debut at 63.

ArtReview magazine said the ranking came after Banksy's popularity and rising presence inspired Tate Modern to stage its first street art show this summer.

Second in the list is Larry Gagosian, the US gallery owner and art dealer, followed by Kathy Halbreich, the newlyappointed associate director of MoMA, New York, and Sir Nicholas Serota, the director of Tate galleries.

Iwan Wirth, Jay Jopling and David Zwirner – the Swiss, British and German art dealers – take fifth, sixth and seventh place respectively, while Franois Pinault, the French collector, the US artist Jasper Johns and the American collector Eli Broad complete the top ten.