The Wall Street Journal declares this Jack Shainman’s moment with a detailed profile of his life and business:
Shainman’s reputation rests on his stellar artists of African heritage, including Sidibé and El Anatsui, a Ghanaian who was the recipient of the 2015 Venice Biennale Golden Lion for lifetime achievement, as well as acclaimed American artists Kerry James Marshall, Carrie Mae Weems, Nick Cave, Barkley L. Hendricks, Hank Willis Thomas and Titus Kaphar. But a closer look at his stable also reveals artists from countries including India, Cuba, Italy, Iraq and Israel. Such a multicultural approach has become fashionable of late, but it’s one that Shainman has been onto for decades. The strategy is now paying off: Shainman has been successful at helping land prestigious museum shows for his artists, including a Marshall retrospective that opens this month at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and travels to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in October. Shainman has also persevered in getting his artists their due in the market. He has, for example, presided over a staggering jump in Anatsui’s prices—from $45,000 to $1.1 million for roughly equivalent pieces. His larger sculptures are priced as high as $3.5 million.
