Who

Dubbed the "queen of the art world" in the 1980s, Boone is generally credited with—or blamed for—the commercialization of art.

Backstory

Raised in the Midwest, Boone worked for three years at the now-defunct Bykert Gallery before opening her own space in SoHo in 1977 at the tender age of 25. Fortunately, she landed a good mentor—the legendary art dealer Leo Castelli, who owned the gallery above hers—and received extra coaching on the marketing of modern art celebrities from British adman/mega-collector Charles Saatchi. A Julian Schnabel show that Boone hosted in 1979 turned him into an art-world phenomenon, and she herself quickly became a fixture on the neo-Expressionist art scene, representing painters like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ross Bleckner, David Salle, and Eric Fischl. In 1996, she moved to the Upper East Side and then opened a second Richard Gluckman-designed space in Chelsea in 2000.

Of note

Boone's career peaked in the 1980s, when she was dubbed "the queen of SoHo." The artists she repped were so popular—and collectors so hungry for their pieces—that she was able to set up waiting lists for work and sell paintings before they'd even been painted. When the bottom fell out of the market in the early 1990s, Boone's career took a tumble, too; a Fischl she had sold for $1.4 million at the peak of the 1980s, for example, was resold in the early '90s for a measly $167,500. (Fischl's market has since rebounded, though he's now represented by Larry Gagosian.) And she endured a number of high-profile defections over the tumultuous decade: In 1991, David Salle left for Larry Gagosian (though he returned a decade later), and Brice Marden abandoned her for Matthew Marks in 1995. These days, although Boone isn't at the white-hot center of the market anymore, she still has a formidable roster, including Ross Bleckner, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Barbara Kruger, and Marc Quinn.

Soundbite

"I had reservations about making art a business. But I got over it."

True story

In September 1999, Boone was arrested and charged with unlawful distribution of ammunition, possession of unlawful weapons and for resisting arrest. Her crime: hosting a Tom Sachs exhibition that featured a sculpture made of guns, and a vase filled with bullets that guests were invited to take home.

Personal

Boone is divorced from Cologne-based art dealer Michael Werner, with whom she has one son, Max. She lives in a lavish apartment on East 64th Street.