Geopolitics of the art world - Chapter 1: Assertion of American Leadership
Nathalie Obadia, Geopolitics of the Art World. Interview by Laurent Issaurat, Art Banking Manager at Société Générale Private Banking. Over the past 100 years, the world of contemporary art has undergone profound upheavals, from the assertion of American leadership in the aftermath of the Second World War to the more recent revival of France on the global stage (Paris and Contemporary Art, a revival?). Author of a landmark book entitled "Geopolitics of the Contemporary Art World," Nathalie Obadia shares her insights on these major developments, focusing on three themes: American Leadership, Global South, and the Revival of Europe. Interview by Laurent Issaurat.
Nathalie Obadia
Gallery owner specializing in contemporary art, with galleries in Paris and Brussels. She is also the author of the landmark book "Geopolitics of Contemporary Art" and teaches at Sciences-Po Paris.
© Luc Castel
The Interwar Period and the Emergence of an American Artistic
Identity Shortly after the First World War, the United States became aware of its potential role as a "global leader" in the fields of economy, finance, and culture. While Europe, particularly major capitals like Berlin and Paris, still dominated Western artistic production, the 1929 crisis contributed to changing this situation. The "New Deal1" led the American federal government to commission major public works from artists, such as the legendary photographers Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans, tasked with documenting the diverse aspects of American society. Additionally, during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, numerous European creators sought refuge in the United States, enriching the American artistic landscape. Simultaneously, intellectuals and art critics like Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg actively contributed, through their writings and positions, to the emergence of an "American identity" in the visual arts.
Assertion of American Leadership from the 1960s
The victory of the Allies boosted the confidence of the United States, where major fortunes, such as Eli Broad and Frederik Weisman, built significant private collections that flourished across the American territory, from Chicago to Texas, from Kansas City to Los Angeles. At the same time, major public museums, like the MOCA in Los Angeles, were established. With a presence in Europe, the United States gained new leverage to showcase North American art, particularly in Germany, Italy, and France. The Marshall Plan2 was accompanied by cultural initiatives, including support for exhibitions of American artists, aimed at enhancing the soft power of the United States. In this context, abstract painting played a specific role, symbolizing creative freedom and embodied by artists like Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Franz Kline. With the support of the American government, these "abstract expressionist" artists were promoted and exhibited, particularly in Italy and West Germany.
In Germany, major public collectors (Düsseldorf Museum) and private collectors (Peter Ludwig) opened their collections to contemporary American artists, bridging the gap between Europe and the United States. In Italy, Gianni Agnelli, at the helm of one of the largest Italian industrial empires, acquired Jasper Johns' "Flags." The interest of major European collectors, both public and private, significantly contributed to the international visibility of American art.
American Artists as Reflections of a Changing Society
American artists have always drawn inspiration from societal phenomena. For instance, Andy Warhol drew from consumer society imagery and the media, with his images of riots echoing the civil rights movement, while his portraits of Jackie Kennedy, created from 1964 after JFK's assassination, symbolized the end of an era. Similarly, James Rosenquist and Robert Rauschenberg, recipients of the Golden Lion at the 1964 Venice Biennale, seemed to glorify the United States at first glance, but their works could be read as critiques of consumer society, capitalism, and the military intervention in Vietnam. In the 1960s and 70s, it is evident that white artists of European origin were predominant, although Robert Rauschenberg, whose grandfather married a Cherokee, claimed indigenous roots. From the 1980s and 90s, and even more so since the early 21st century, the American art scene has gradually integrated artists with increasingly diverse profiles, in terms of gender and ethnic origin, recognizing African Americans, Afro-descendants, and more recently, descendants of indigenous peoples ("Native Americans"). Jean Michel Basquiat perfectly embodies this evolution. As a black artist of Haitian origin, Basquiat emerged in the 1980s with the support of his friend Andy Warhol and gallerist Larry Gagosian, to become a central figure in the contemporary art market decades later. Over time, other "minorities," based on gender or sexual preferences, have been brought into the spotlight, such as Cindy Sherman, whose photographs depict ambivalent women, liberated yet domesticated, or Felix Gonzalez Torres, a witness to the AIDS years. Mega galleries (like David Zwirner, Gagosian, or Hauser & Wirth) have played a significant role in representing diverse facets of society that were previously in relative obscurity. This movement continues to have an impact today.
Notably, for the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale in 2024, an artist of Cherokee descent, Jeffrey Gibson, was chosen to represent the United States. The spotlight on indigenous peoples resonates perfectly with current global trends, whether in Latin America, Africa, Oceania, or Asia, as was palpable during the 15th Documenta in Kassel (2022). This form of new universalism, based on the deconstruction of the colonial and post-colonial paradigm, has been well understood by the United States, allowing them to renew their cultural leadership in a way.
To be continued...
1 Name given to the economic and social reform movement advocated by F.D. Roosevelt in the United States, starting in 1933, with the aim of resolving the economic crisis that had been raging in the country since 1929.
2 American economic aid program to Europe launched after the Second World War at the initiative of General George Catlett Marshall and adopted by a law in April 1948.
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