There is only something more merciless than capitalism: artistic capitalism. “I don't give a damn what other people say. There is only one measure of success in running a gallery: making money. “Any dealer who says no is either a hypocrite or will soon close his doors.” This comment by Frank Lloyd, one of the founders of the Marlborough Galleries, collected in 1973 by The New York Times, reveals the tough character of a man who was able to get Paul VI (1897-1978) to open a collection of modern art in the Vatican. The first to invent the concept of megagalleries and realizing that the works had to pursue the geographies of money. In fact, he wrote with surprise in the American newspaper: “It has representatives in cities as remote as Madrid [sic], Sydney and Johannesburg.” He also understood that using tax havens was a unique advantage to avoid taxes. He channeled his sales through Galerie Marlborough AG, based in Liechtenstein. Almost eight decades later, that gallery founded in 1946 in London by Lloyd and Harry Fisher, who was later joined by David Somerset and Lloyd's son, Gilbert, will close the doors of all its locations in June: Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and New York.
The news, despite being picked up by most of the major media, does not change the art world at all. Not even an era ends with it. For years he seemed, above all, a ghost from other times. Path to its own demolition. “It was a painting gallery that didn't paint anything; It was too commercial,” observes art curator Fernando Castro Flórez. “In New York neither critics nor museum directors followed her and here, in Madrid, she seemed to settle for the performance annual of Antonio López [uno de sus superventas junto a Juan Genovés y Manolo Valdés] and that was enough.” And Botero didn't need the gallery to sell.
Marlborough's numbers, from what little is known, were a red line and the relationships at the top of the organization a daily battle. In 2020 (with plans to close), the board fired then-president Max Levai after accusing him and his father, Pierre Levai, Frank Lloyd's nephew, of mismanagement. The younger Levai and Marlborough sued each other. The complaint maintained that —supposedly— the galleries lost 18.7 million dollars (17.5 million euros at the current exchange rate) between 2013 and 2019 and that 14.5 million were due to the poor financial decisions of Levai, who admitted to having stored 15,000 works. Surprisingly, they then assured that the set was worth 250 million dollars (about 344 million euros at the current exchange rate). The lawsuits were filed.
“I'm interested to see what's left in their inventory after the closure and what the level of demand will be,” says Clare McAndrew, an art economist. And she exclaims: “I really want to know!” The note with which the gallery announced its closure two weeks ago it highlighted the “depth” and “breadth” of its inventory. Marlborough assures that he will not put it up for auction and that part will go to non-profit organizations that support contemporary creators. The owners intend to sell the galleries and their warehouses in the United Kingdom and Spain.
But the question “what remains?” of the expert is essential. Marlborough once featured Bacon, Frank Auerbach, Henry Moore, Freud, Barbara Hepworth, Rothko and Paula Rego. Only with place a Bacon and an Auerbach the debt would disappear and they would even make money. The problem is that nothing remains of these artists, beyond graphic or low-value work. If this “self-appraisal” corresponds to the prices of the creators they now represent in their galleries, it is cheating the solitaire. Auctions set the price and many of them barely reach a minimum price when supply and demand have to be matched. There is only something more merciless than capitalism: artistic capitalism.
It certainly has merit to withstand 80 years under the sun in an ecosystem where it is rare for a gallery in Spain to last more than two decades. He failed to adapt to the times (like Robert Fraser, John Kasmin or Anthony d'Offay) and to compete with colossi such as David Zwirner (New York, Paris, London, Hong Kong) or Gagosian (New York, Los Angeles, London , Rome, Athens, Geneva, Basel, Gstaad, Paris, Hong Kong), which have already established themselves in the luxury industry. They were the stone on a lake condemned to sink. “Changing the culture of a large organization, working in three different countries, requires a lot of energy and money, but, above all, will from the top. I think the cause lies in the owner,” says philosopher and cultural promoter Bartomeu Marí, who once showed Genovés' work.
Frank Lloyd understood art like any business. And he took it to the extreme. In the 1970s, Kate Rothko, daughter of the late painter Mark Rothko, accused Marlborough of “double selling, fraud and conspiracy” in the handling of her father's estate. Kate alleged – rightly – that the gallery sold Rothko canvases at prices up to 15 times higher than those recorded in the estate. Decades later, in 2016, Marian Goodman, the most respected gallery owner in the world, complained: “There are people who buy and sell art as if they were shares in ranches.” Lloyd “leveled” the ground.
Nobody lives from the past. If it were an internet address, Marlborough would be “.was”. The Portuguese gallery owner Pedro Cera has just opened a headquarters in Madrid. And his analysis is a pristine x-ray: “They have not built a clear program for a long time, the competition in their segment [precios altos, el que más ha sufrido] It is very strong and the strategy of concentrating two of the four spaces in Spain would be debatable,” he observes. And other galleries have taken the best artists. Her compatriot Paula Rego signed, two years before her death (2022), for the Londoner Victoria Miro and those who sell the most have also left: Genovés (heirs) and Manolo Valdés have joined Open Gallery in Madrid.
The gallery couldn't find the winning formula for the current market and staff defections include John Erle-Drax and Geoffrey Parton, who spent half a century each in the gallery. “The truth is that there has been a lack of clear leadership,” says the head of a large auction house who asks not to be named.
Inside the galleries there was hope that the threat of closure would end in a bad dream. Before the end, they outlined a strategy of curated exhibitions—in Madrid they signed Tiago de Abreu—to regain prestige. “The board was on board with this idea,” says a source close to Marlborough. And he clarifies: “It is not a question of money, but that it has been impossible to find a figure similar to Frank Lloyd.” “And the heirs have neither experience nor interest in the gallery; “just make money,” laments Commissioner Mariano Navarro.
Because transition is possible. Marian Goodman, at over 90 years old, has proven it. She named five employees partners and set up an advisory committee. She, who is an art myth, who created the career for four decades of, perhaps, the most important living painter, Gerhard Richter, had to see two years ago how he abandoned her for David Zwirner. She remembered… There is only something more merciless than capitalism, artistic capitalism.
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