András Szántó


András Szántó is a writer, researcher, and consultant in the fields of art, media, cultural policy, arts sponsorship, and philanthropy based in New York City.

Career

Szántó attended the Budapest University of Economics, where his undergraduate thesis on forced resettlements in Stalinist Hungary resulted in a 1989 book on the subject. He began graduate studies at Columbia University in New York City in 1988. His research there focused on social and commercial aspects of the visual arts. Szántó's 1996 Ph.D. dissertation, entitled Gallery Transformations in the New York Art World in the 1980's, examined New York City art galleries and changes in the nature of the environment for art during this period.
From 1997—2005, Szántó was affiliated with Columbia's National Arts Journalism Program and was appointed director in 2004. In 2005—10 he was director of the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera, also at Columbia. He has worked with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to develop its Global Museum Leaders Colloquium and has served as moderator of the biennial program since its inception in 2014. Szántó has also served as Senior Lecturer at Sotheby's Institute of Art, New York City. His firm, András Szántó LLC consults on cultural strategy and policy for cultural organizations, foundations, and corporations.
Szántó’s writing on arts and cultural institutions has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Art Newspaper, Artforum, The American Prospect, and other publications. In the field of public affairs, he was a correspondent for Magyar Narancs and has published op-ed articles in The Boston Globe and The Los Angeles Times. He organized a 2007 conference at the New York Public Library on political propaganda, and edited the companion book of essays, ' 'What Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics' '.
In 2012, he moderated and wrote the summary report of a Salzburg Global Seminar, entitled Public and Private Cultural Exchange-Based Diplomacy: New Models for the 21st Century. Also in 2012, he participated in and wrote the summary report for the Asia Society's US-China Museum Directors Forum in Beijing.
Through his firm, Andras Szanto LLC, he consults on programming, marketing initiatives and strategic planning for corporations and non-profit organizations in the arts. His firm's non-profit clients include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest. Corporate clients include Art Basel, The Absolut Company, and the Davidoff Art Initiative.
Szántó has served on the advisory boards of Apexart, The Alliance for the Arts, The Gordon Parks Foundation, and the George H. Heyman Center for Philanthropy at NYU.

Personal life

He lives in New York City with his wife, Alanna Stang, and their two sons.

Selected publications