Marc Spiegler is Art Basel’s co-director…which means one of the most powerful men of the art market.
The 39 years-old successor of the charismatic Sam Keller is French-American. He co-directs Art Basel - with Annette Schönholzer, in charge of logistics - the most important art fair in the world. This year, more than 1000 galleries have applied to get the chance to exhibit at Art Basel.
His mother was French and his father American, Marc Spiegler grew up in Chicago where his parents used to teach politics. Instead of going to Harvard, he studied social sciences in a small University of Chicago and gets in the “rugby” team.
Waiting for his journalism career to start, the rugby player did different kind of jobs, and became king of campus parties. “I became a journalist because it’s a job that can lead to anything. If you want to switch off to architecture, politics, technologies, media, and art it’s absolutely possible…and that’s what I did.”
Quickly recognized for two sports articles, his professional career rose with an article on gay rodeo. “People that do rodeo but who are gays. Horses I don’t know, but the cow-boys, yes.”
He became then editor of a weekly publication, and writer for the monthly Chicago Magazine. He wrote a paper on the troubles that the Chicago Museum went through, which opened him the doors to one of the most prestigious art publication : Art&Auction. He then set up in Europe.
When, in 1998 he moved to Switzerland, he looked at every New-York-based publications in order to become their correspondant. He still wrote for Art&Auction and worked then for ArtNews, Art Review, The Art Newspaper. Basically all the important art publications. Because Marc Spiegler invented a genre.
At the time, he defined himself as « a journalist of the art world » which was
sometimes perceived as full of arrogance by some of his colleagues. "I wasn’t an art critic, and I didn’t want to limit myself to the market : I was writing on the evolution of the art world.” Indeed he explored the social aspect of globalisation that he knew before the others : networks that link artist , galleries, curators… He tells the world how grateful his education was. “My education background helped me a lot. Trying to think in a rigorous way, analysing then writing. Not boring, if possible. Without going straight to conclusions.”
At the beginning and as he didn’t really know the art market, he focused on news and facts. When his network had grown a bit, and trusted him, he started huge features. “the third step, is when I started writing comments and when I offered analysis.” Analysis where Spiegler raises problems.
Called by Sam Keller after he decided to resign, Marc Spiegler had to go through a tough interview with the Art Basel comittee to become director of the Fair. But his knowledge of the art, his challenging and cutting-edge attitude, his fresh ideas and the audit he presented during that interview convinced. The former party-goer is a very charming man with a big brain...
His philosophy : "No risk, no fun."
To learn more: http://www.artbasel.com/
