JOLLY DAYS

Si Newhouse

I'd never heard the name Si Newhouse until he was mentioned as the money behind Larry Gagosian's reseller's model for a gallery. Gagosian as the public figure would approach people with blue chip art and then find a buyer with Newhouse providing the in-between cash. That was how it was portrayed, at least as I remember from an article only mildly interesting, read years ago. I'm not that interested in the art market, certainly not the gallery reseller market — a tomb-haunting enterprise if done solely for bucks; it is like reading about the trading of stock certificates; has nothing to do with art.

This article about Si Newhouse suggests he is an appealing figure:

When asked what motivates Mr. Newhouse, people who know him rarely mention power or money. They talk about his devotion to his work, his penchant for arriving at the office before dawn, his intense interest in design details and his curiosity about Hollywood, politics and art.

Newhouse is not a fud; he enjoys the fun of pop culture:

More than almost anything else, acquaintances say, Mr. Newhouse delights in the buzz his magazines routinely create. He welcomes controversies, like the recent brouhaha about the Obamas-as-terrorists cover of The New Yorker. What tickles him often challenges convention, often embraces the new or novel, and often sells.

When Mr. Newhouse offers advice on Vogue, “he’s always made the surprising choice rather than the safe choice,” Ms. Wintour says. “He likes the buzz, there’s no question. If you have lunch with a celebrity or political figure, he’s thrilled to hear about it.”

…His greatest passion is movies — the only topic besides his magazines, his colleagues say, that can make him almost chatty. He recently sent a DVD of the film noir classic “D.O.A.” to some of his editors, eager to discuss it afterward. Graydon Carter, editor in chief of Vanity Fair, says his annual Hollywood issue was the chairman’s idea.

Newhouse is portrayed as an old style (with the exception that he is shy), hands-on, engaged, proud of his product, admirable business guy:

Mr. Newhouse (a k a Samuel I. Newhouse Jr.) defies the image of the media baron driven by love of limelight, political influence or money. But largely because of him, Condé — an arm of his family’s privately held Advance Publications — is unlike any other major publisher.