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Mary Boone
In an article in the daily observer she is quoted as saying:

Wiki Markup_All I can say is, when 1989 hit, I had a very beautiful _{*}_\very beautiful [Cy\] Twombly{_}{*}_, an extremely important{_}{*}{_}Brice Marden _{*}{_}painting, and a 1966 _{*}{_}Agnes Martin{_}{*}_, all of which were losing value by the day," Ms. Boone recalled. "Everyone kept telling_ _me, 'Sell them\! You can at least break even, but I was stubborn and determined _{_}not{_}_ to just break even. I ended up waiting a year and a half and selling them for _{_}half{_}_. So now, people realize that it's either you decide to stay in it for 10_ _years or sell right away._Brice Marden painting, and a 1966 Agnes Martin, all of which were losing value by the day," Ms. Boone recalled. "Everyone kept telling me, ‘Sell them! You can at least break even, but I was stubborn and determined not to just break even. I ended up waiting a year and a half and selling them for half. So now, people realize that it’s either you decide to stay in it for 10 years or sell right away.

It is clear from this quote that she prizes money a great deal and even sees it as the end goal in her artistic transactions.  Unlike many gallerists who try to stay pure to the cultural significance of the work they sell, Mary Boone is forthright in acknowledging that money is important to the industry and allows her to continue to "help" artists.  Boone has a reputation from using the media to her advantage to create a buzz about herself, her artists, and the market in general.  She is branded for her role in the 1980s market frenzy, known in the art community as an aggressive dealer looking to make as much money as possible.  It is said that at the time she often would "encourage" artists to certain kinds of sellable work or even bully them into showing unfinished work in order to fulfill growing demands from clients.  Interestingly, according to more recent interviews, there is a new Mary Boone in town.  She has seemingly switched gears after becoming the scapegoat for much of what happened in the market crash of the 1990s.  Her rhetoric now focuses on a desire to and joy in helping artists to work at what they love.  And instead of an expensive 30 year anniversary soiree, she is planning a new venture called "Young at Art" with 30 schools in 5 boroughs of the NYC school system.  Whether she has really turned over a new leaf, or simply realized that her days of aggression need to get buried for PR reasons, one can never be sure.  All I can tell you is that this new marketing strategy has indeed worked, and her gallery continues to thrive even in uncertain times.  When she was starting out, she sold on the secondary market to keep her new gallery afloat.  One of her noted artists says of her transformation:

She's She’s somebody who never used to be able to hear 'no‘no,'" ’” Fischl says. "It “It did not register." Now, though, "she “she gets it. She's She’s changed radically. Dramatically but slowly, if that's that’s possible. She's She’s really moved from a mono-focused, obsessive, driven character who could be bullying, infuriating, quick to argue and ultimately isolated to somebody who--through her spiritual development, her revelations--serves her community.
Mary Boon Gallery Space, 2011

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