Hirst name loses sparkle as he tumbles down art list

After the critical mauling afforded Damien Hirst's latest show earlier this week there was more bad news for the purveyor of skulls and pickled sharks when it was revealed he has dropped to 48th place in the list of the art world's most powerful figures.

Last year the 44-year-old was number one in Art Review magazine's annual list of the most influential figures in the business - but may have been too busy counting the £111m he had just made from a sale of new works to take much notice.

This year things have not gone so well, and although the list's compilers say that his freefall is largely down to his absence from the limelight for the past 12 months, it seems the reputation of the Hirst brand is on the slide.

In his place at the top of the list, announced this week, is Hans Ulrich Obrist, who works alongside Julia Peyton-Jones as co-director of exhibitions and programmes at London's Serpentine Gallery. The magazine chose the Swiss curator and writer for his role as a "tireless advocate for contemporary art".

Glenn D Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York takes second place and in third is Tate boss, Sir Nicholas Serota, up from fourth last year.

Iwona Blazwick, director of Whitechapel Gallery, makes the top 10, storming up from 76th place last year. The acclaimed redevelopment of the East End gallery and her new role as an adviser to the Greater London Authority have propelled her up the list.

But there was bad news for another well known British art figure - Charles Saatchi, a former number one, has plunged from 14th to 72nd thanks to the "lukewarm" reception to recent shows in his new gallery.