France's Pinault stays top of art world power list

Billionaire art collector Francois Pinault of France poses near a print of John Lennon by late artist Andy Warhol, at Christie's in Venice June 8, 2007.

LONDON (Reuters) - French billionaire Francois Pinault held on to number one spot in an annual list of leading figures in the contemporary art world, while Britain's Damien Hirst was the top-ranking artist in sixth place.

Between them on ArtReview's "Power 100" ranking, published on Friday, came U.S. gallery owner Larry Gagosian, curators Nicholas Serota and Glenn D. Lowry and collector Eli Broad.

Pinault, who owns Christie's auctioneers, won a battle with the Guggenheim Foundation earlier this year to turn a crumbling Renaissance warehouse in Venice into a gallery, helping him cement his place at the pinnacle of the art world, experts said.

"This shows he is not sitting on his laurels," said Georgina Adam, editor at The Art Newspaper and chair of the panel who drew up the 2007 list.

"He has handed the day-to-day running of his company to his son, which has freed him up to concentrate more on art collecting," she added. Pinault handed the reins of the PPR retail empire to his son in 2005.

Pinault's arch-rival in art and business, Bernard Arnault, returns to the Power 100 list at number 40 having dropped off the annual ranking altogether in 2006.

Hirst, who stayed in the headlines this year with the sale of a diamond-encrusted platinum skull for $100 million, jumped to sixth place in 2007 from 11th in 2006. He is the only artist to have topped ArtReview's list, in 2005.

"What's interesting is how he always manages to stay in the public eye and how he's managed to brand his work," said Adam.

"We live in period of great financial excess and a skull studded with diamonds is a symbol of mortality and excess. I think his ability to stay on top of the wave is what moved him up the list."

INDIA BREAKS THROUGH

ArtReview editor Mark Rappolt said the entry of an Indian artist, auctioneer and collector in the list was a sign the country could eclipse China's booming art scene.

"The big one is definitely India, mainly in the lower half of the list," he said. "It is seen as the 'new China' where things can be bought cheaper and the value will rise faster.

"Chinese art has not made much of a dent in the last few years. There has been a gold rush for China and, from a critical point of view, it has been slightly indiscriminate."

The publication of the Power 100 list coincides with the Frieze Art Fair, now an important fixture for galleries, collectors and artists who descend on London each autumn.

Its directors, Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp, fell to 17th on the list from eighth, although Adam said their influence had not waned over the last year, but others had overtaken them.

She added: "The most important thing about this list, which is extremely difficult to compile ... is the fact that whole art world is becoming more global. The art world used to be reduced to Europe and America and that is no longer the case."