steve cohen

Francis Bacon Connection Bounced from Vanity Fair's New Establishment

Filed under: Art

damien hirst Last year, Vanity Fair's "New Establishment" list was hefty with art market players. This year, the magazine noted that the Wall Street folks and "big media" got their asses handed to them ... but a quick look shows that the arts got slammed, as well.

In 2008, the entire Francis Bacon supply chain showed up on the list. Bacon-inspired Damien Hirst (shown at right) filled the production link, with dealer Larry Gagosian moving Hirst's product and Roman Abramovich buying up not the Bacon-inspired but the works of the master himself. And, they wound up in some hefty positions. Hirst hit #31, with Gagosian close behind at #38. Of course, deep pockets win, which is how ol' Roman pierced the top 10 (at #8).

This year? Well, the Francis Bacon supply chain didn't fair as well. Abramovich was ignored completely, along with Gagosian. Hirst was tossed into the "Pit Stop," where he's joined by shark-loving hedge fund manager and art collector Steve Cohen, who sacrificed $750 million of his own wealth to the financial crisis.

While Cohen keeps the comings and goings of SAC Capital Advisors under wraps, we do know that Hirst had to layoff 20 employees. There's a silver lining, though. With Hirst having to do more of his own work, we probably won't have to see as much of it.

Tags: art, art collector, art market, ArtCollector, artist, ArtMarket, damien hirst, DamienHirst, entertainment-awards, francis bacon, FrancisBacon, larry gagosian, LarryGagosian, roman abramovich, RomanAbramovich, steve cohen, SteveCohen, vanity fair, VanityFair

Hedge Funder Shows Off Art Collection

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Most of the time Sotheby's exhibit works they are going to be up for auction soon but the collection of Steven and Alexandra Cohen is more about showing off than selling off. Cohen, a hedge fund investor who owns SAC Capital Advisors, has quickly created a collection of some of the most desirable works of modern and contemporary art. He is displaying it at Sotheby's New York in a loan-only exhibition, titled "Women" which runs through April 14. The 20 works show a variety of female forms by artists such as de Kooning, Warhol, Matisse, van Gogh and Picasso. Bloomberg reports that the works have a combined value of $450 million.

While Cohen may not be selling anything now he reportedly consigned at least eight paintings to New York dealers last year. He was said to be trying to raise money for a major purchase that he decided not to make. It may be a savvy move to let the public have a free taste of his collection now when nothing is for sale to whet appetites for private sales later. Or it could be that he's trying to increase attention for Sotheby's. His company, SAC owned 5.9 percent of the company as of March 6 according to an SEC filing.

Tags: andy warhol, AndyWarhol, art, matisse, picasso, richard prince, RichardPrince, steve cohen, SteveCohen