Commissioning artists’ brands: the case of the Deutsche Guggenheim

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of contemporary art commissioning as a tactic for both collecting and image building on the part of contemporary art institutions. Central to this practice is the selection of artists’ brands, namely the commissioning of works by pre-eminent artists for symbolic and economic purposes. Through the lens of the Deutsche Guggenheim commission series (1997–2013), the article explores the notion of artists' brands as a new aspect of contemporary canon formation. The analysis shows how preferred traits and styles of such brands are utilised to foster or improve the image of the commissioning institution. In addition, the article argues that the selection and collection of contemporary art through commissioning is often directly linked to the business interests of the commissioner and can serve the purpose of reputation laundering on the part of private art institutions and corporate art collections.