Citations

But it’s not just the surfeit of stuff repeating the most recent auction experiments—Italian Arte Povera here, the Japanese Zero artists there, and there, and there again—that tips one off to the rightward turn of contemporary collecting. It’s also the fact billionaire titans like Norman Braman and Ken Griffin are actively financing Republican candidates in both state and presidential elections. While the first is underwriting both the Miami ICA and Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, the latter—the founder of one of the world’s largest hedge funds—recently contributed $5.5 million to the election of Illinois’ new union-busting governor. As Jeb Bush preps for Friday’s “Pop Art, Politics & Jeb” fundraiser in Miami Beach, it’s fair to say that, at present, contemporary art and Republican politics go hand in glove.