The Top 10 Most Powerful figures in the Art World 2009

Art Review Magazine based this list on commercial clout, intellectual influence and popularity.:

1. Hans Ulrich Obrist - Swiss curator mainly in the far east but works out London's Serpentine Gallery
2. Glenn D. Lowry - director of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
3. Sir Nicholas Serota - head of London’s Tate museums.
4. Daniel Birnbaum - Swedish curator, Venice Biennale, 2009
5. Larry Gagosian - multiple site gallery owner including Los Angeles, London, New York
6. François Pinault - owner of Gucci Fashion House and Christie's auction house
7. Eli Broad - U.S. collector and funder of the Broad Art Foundation
8. Anton Vidokle, Julieta Aranda & Brian Kuan Wood, e-flux, the new norm
9. Iwona Blazwick - museum director, Whitechapel Gallery, London
10. Bruce Nauman - U.S. artist.
    

Forbes Top Billionaire Collectors 2009

1. Philip Niarchos, son of the late shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos
2. Francois Pinault French retail giant
3. Eli Broad home building and insurance tycoon
4. Ronald and Lenard Lauder cosmetics heir
5. David Gelfen entertainment industry
6. Nasser David Khalili - Iranian academic
7. Steven A. Cohen hedge fund king
8. Paul Allen, Co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates
9. Leon Black, art collector
10. Henry Kravis, hedge fund buy out specialist, bought out Nabisco
11. Samuel Newhouse, Jr. publisher, iconic art, cocooned in privacy
12. Esther Grether, art collector
13. Leslie Wexner, Limited Brands and the Wexner Foundation
    

Plus:
Art+Auction Most Powerful People in 2009