Ranking the most powerful personalities of contemporary art
In 2002, the Power 100, a yearly ranking of the art world’s most influential people, was published for the first time. Bringing together a few artists, but also gallerists, auction house directors, collectors, museum directors and curators, commissioners and art critics, this ranking can be subjected to a sociological analysis. Position or role in the art world, gender (man or woman), but also country represent three important factors to better understand how power is organized in the international contemporary art world. In addition, to the extent that this ranking aimed at revealing power in the art world — involving especially the power of labelling and recognizing artists — exists simultaneously with that of the most renowned artists, it becomes possible to test the bourdieusian homology hypothesis between the features of those who build the reputations and those who receive them, i.e. the artists.