Every month in The Hammer, art-industry veteran Simon de Pury lifts the curtain on his life as the ultimate art-world insider, his brushes with celebrity, and his invaluable insight into the inner workings of the art market. 

Lately, there have been questions asked about whether the art market has shrunk. The demand for good works has continued to be solid, but a dearth of major collections coming up for sale is reflected in lower turnover figures for most auction houses and art galleries.

Starting my summer holidays by the sea, I realize that if the art market has not shrunk, many of my friends definitely have! Is it all due to Ozempic? It reminds me of the funniest wedding speech ever that Helly Nahmad gave two summers ago, when his younger brother Joe got married: “We were very concerned about how we were going to seat all our guests when we realized that everybody had accepted our invitation. Thanks to Ozempic, to whom I would like to express my deepest gratitude, it all worked out in the end!”

Helly Nahmad and Joe Nahmad. Photo: Simon de Pury.

Baron H.H. Thyssen-Bornemisza who was considered to be the biggest collector of his time was asked by a journalist in the early 1980s if the biggest collector was not chocolate magnate Peter Ludwig. “He certainly is,” was his response “but only if you measure the size of his stomach!”

A while back I was invited to a dinner given by the rulers of a mid-sized country whose growing economic power allow them to become a significant player in the cultural arena. I was struck to see that the super-smart wife of that country’s president was not only looking as stunning as her gorgeous daughter but also looked to be about the same age. The First Lady’s mother also looked amazing and could easily have been taken for the older sister of her daughter and granddaughter.

Looking around the table there was a gentleman sitting opposite me who alongside myself had to be one of the only foreigners who had been asked that night. We engaged in a conversation, and he told me that he was a German doctor specialized in anti-aging. While not revealing any of his secrets, he declared that anybody who was going to be alive and in good health 25 years from now, was no longer going to die. The progress in medicine would be such that not only would people live forever, but they would exude youthful energy and sex appeal. Every time you would go to the bathroom, your urine would be instantly examined as would be any of your other bodily functions on an ongoing basis. Any anomaly could therefore be detected so early as to nip in the bud any potential aggravation of your health.

This dinner, that could have come straight out of a science fiction movie, has remained stuck in my mind ever since. First the realization that, yes, maybe one day eighteen generations of the same family could live side by side, but also that immortality would probably only be accessible to the 0.001 percent of the 0.1 percent, given what I presume would be the astronomical cost of the necessary medical support system. War, earthquakes, fires, floods, accidents and poverty would continue to put an end to most human lives.

Toni Garrn, Karolína Kurková, Simon de Pury, Heidi Klum, Sasha Pivovarova and Ikram Abdi Omar on stage during the amfAR Cannes Gala 30th edition presented by Chopard And Red Sea International Film Festival at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on May 23, 2024 in Cap d’Antibes, France. Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for amfAR.

Now, what does all this have to do with the tiny microcosm of the art world and the even smaller art market?

From our tender youth onwards we are confronted with our mortality, which is the only certitude we can have about our human condition. The reason most of us long for and seek great art is not only that it lifts us to the best of what humans are capable, but also that it appears to us as being timeless. A truly long lasting legacy can only be achieved through cultural accomplishments. These will by far outlive any successes in politics, economics, business, science or sport.

The trajectory of most artists mirrors those of us ordinary humans. Successful artists have maybe five to eight years of absolute brilliance during their twenties. For the rest of their lives they are creatively stuck and repeat ad infinitum what initially brought them success. Numerous artists of note don’t even have the gift of a few outstanding years; they have one brilliant idea at the outset, which they then repack forever. They are one trick ponies or what you call one hit wonders in the music industry. There is no intended sarcasm in my words, since as a failed artist I have a huge admiration for anybody who pulls off a star studded moment once in their life and can live off of it happily ever after.

Only the very greatest artists manage to defy the fight against the clock. Their artistic path is a constant search, exploration and challenge to their own creativity. They are always ahead of their time and often produce their strongest works at the end of their lives. Titian, Picasso and Twombly are amongst them besides topping my personal list of all time favorites. It is possibly even more evident in the world of architecture where Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer and I.M. Pei have done their very best works at the end of their lives. Frank Gehry and Norman Foster demonstrate the youthful vigor of their creativity on a daily basis.

Norman Foster and Frank Gehry at the opening of Luma Arles. Photo by Simon de Pury.

Collecting when done well is an artistic and creative pursuit in its own right. The most important collectors often make their boldest moves at the end of their lives. I will never forget sitting on the edge of a hospital bed showing transparencies of artworks to a collector who was connected to various drips and cables. The decision to spend more money on a single work than he had ever done before was a life affirming sign of vitality.

Lately some acquaintances and friends I meet tell me: “You look amazing!” They were never saying this to me before. I therefore invariably answer with a quote from the fabulous art collector Stefan Edlis. “There are three stages in life: Youth, middle age and You look amazing!”

While being obsessed by art I always say that nothing beats living art. It is therefore understandable that most of us try to slow down the inexorable march of time. The only auction I ever witnessed coming  to a total standstill was when Jocelyn Wildenstein walked into a Christie’s evening sale some twenty minutes after it had started. While she was looking for a free seat in the packed sale room you could have heard a pin drop as everyone including star auctioneer Christopher Burge went completely silent for a few moments staring at her. Since then plastic surgery has made such immense progress that whenever I say of a lady that she looks very beautiful, I instantly hear the comment back, “I wonder which doctor did her.”

At least until the predictions of the German doctor become a reality the illusion that time has really stood still will only come through art.

Yehudi Menuhin said: “You should try to die young but as late as possible!”

I am well aware that in a time when the world is convulsed in war, terror, conflicts and extreme polarization these musings on aging, anti-aging and its anecdotal impact on the art world can be seen as flippant. Blame it on my light headedness.

Simon de Pury is the founder of de PURY, former chairman and chief auctioneer of Phillips de Pury & Company, former Europe chairman and chief auctioneer of Sotheby’s, and former curator of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. He is an auctioneer, curator, private dealer, art advisor, photographer, and DJ. Instagram: @simondepury.