Well, I suppose anything that provides money to emerging artists is a good thing, but when I read about the Future Generation Art Prize — started by billionaire Ukranian collector Victor Pinchuk, announced with a flourish in today’s New York Times, and set to be toasted tonight in a reception at the fashionable Gramercy Park Hotel — I cringed.
The organization he put together to advise him consists of art-world presences like Eli Broad, Nicholas Serota and Glenn Lowry. The art advisors who’ll be available to help the young artists include Jeff Koons, Andreas Gursky, and Takashi Murakami.
What century is Mr. Pinchuk living in? Does the art world not have any women he respects? Oh yes, there is one — fashion designer/collector Miuccia Prada. One.
The prize is an open competition — apply here starting in January — and it’s set to be judged by a jury. Let’s hope that is more representative of the art-world’s population, which is loaded with talented women artists, curators, directors, collectors, dealers — need I go on?