Depart foundation stefan simchowitz mykita

As the art industry undergoes its messy transition into the globalized digital era, a handful of self-styled change agents have emerged with visions of how to best leverage and guide this period of upheaval.

None of them have been as polarizing as the art collector, consultant, and entrepreneurStefan Simchowitz.

A Los Angeles native with roots in both the movie biz (he helped produce Requiem for a DreamandThe House of Yes) and the start-up world (he co-founded the photo-distribution site MediaVast, which was acquired by Getty Images), Simchowitz emerged as an enthusiastic flipper and viral market-maker during the last art boom, becoming known for his bracingly Darwinian, accelerationist perspective in a field traditionally known for caution, deliberation, and slow connoisseurship.

The New York Times labeled him “the art world’s patron satan,” a catchy sobriquet that has