The $12 Million Stuffed Shark
Don Thompson, ISBN-13 9781845133023
“Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a Freakonomics approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored.
This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices.”*
The Supermodel and the Brillo Box
Don Thompson, ISBN-10: 1137279087 ISBN-13: 978-1137279088
“Acquiring contemporary art is about passion and lust, but it is also about branding, about the back story that comes with the art, about the relationship of money and status, and, sometimes, about celebrity. The Supermodel and the Brillo Box follows Don Thompson’s 2008 bestseller The $12 Million Stuffed Shark and offers a further journey of discovery into what the Crash of 2008 did to the art market and the changing methods that the major auction houses and dealerships have implemented since then. It describes what happened to that market after the economic implosion following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and offers insights and art-world tales from dealers, auction houses, and former executives of each, from New York and London to Abu Dhabi and Beijing.”*
The Orange Balloon Dog
Don Thompson, ISBN-10: 1771621524 ISBN-13: 978-1771621526
“Within forty-eight hours in the fall of 2014, buyers in the Sotheby’s and Christie’s New York auction houses spent $1.7 billion on contemporary art. Non-taxed freeport warehouses around the globe are stacked with art held for speculation. One of Jeff Koons’ five chromium-plated stainless-steel balloon dogs sold for 50 percent more at auction than the previous record for any living artist. A painting by Christopher Wool, featuring four lines from a Francis Ford Coppola movie stenciled in black-on-a-white background, sold for $28 million. In The Orange Balloon Dog, economist and bestselling author Don Thompson cites these and other fascinating examples to explore the sometimes-baffling activities of the high-end contemporary art market. He examines what is at play in the exchange of vast amounts of money and what nudges buyers, even on the subconscious level, to imbue a creation with such high commercial value.”*
Art of the Deal
Noah Horowitz, ISBN-10: 0691148325 ISBN-13: 9780691148328
“Art of the Deal, Noah Horowitz, Art today is defined by its relationship to money as never before. Prices of living artists’ works have been driven to unprecedented heights, conventional boundaries within the art world have collapsed, and artists now think ever more strategically about how to advance their careers. Artists no longer simply make art, but package, sell, and brand it.
Noah Horowitz exposes the inner workings of the contemporary art market, explaining how this unique economy came to be, how it works, and where it’s headed. He takes a unique look at the globalization of the art world and the changing face of the business, offering the clearest analysis yet of how investors speculate in the market and how emerging art forms such as video and installation have been drawn into the commercial sphere.”*
The Value of Art
Michael Findlay, ISBN-10: 3791346385 ISBN-13: 9783791346380
“In The Value of Art, internationally renowned art dealer and market expert Michael Findlay offers a lively and authoritative tour of the art world informed by almost a half-century in the business and a passion for great art. With style and wry wit, Findlay explores how art acquires value―both commercial and social―and how these values circulate among the artists, dealers, and collectors that comprise today’s complex and constantly evolving art world. In the process he demystifies how art is bought and sold while also constantly looking beyond sales figures to emphasize the primacy of art’s essential, noncommercial worth. Coloring his account with wise advice, insider anecdotes involving scoundrels and scams, stories of celebrity collectors, and remarkable discoveries, Findlay has distilled a lifetime’s experience in this indispensable guide for today’s art lover.”*
i sold Andy Warhol. (too soon)
Richard Polsky, ISBN-10: 1590513371 ISBN-13: 9781590513378
“In early 2005, Richard Polsky decided to put his much-loved, hard-won Warhol Fright Wig, up for auction at Christie’s. The market for contemporary art was robust and he was hoping to turn a profit. His instinct seemed to be on target: his picture sold for $375,000. But if only Polsky had waited . . . Over the next two years, prices soared to unimaginable heights with multimillion-dollar deals that became the norm and not the exception. Buyers and sellers were baffled, art dealers were bypassed for auction houses, and benchmark prices proved that trees really do grow to the sky. Had the market lost all reason?”*
Seven Days in the Art World
Sarah Thornton, ISBN-10: 039333712X ISBN-13: 9780393337129
“Sarah Thornton’s vivid ethnography―an international hit, now available in twenty translations―reveals the inner workings of the sophisticated subcultures that make up the contemporary art world. In a series of day-in-the-life narratives set in New York, Los Angeles, London, Basel, Venice, and Tokyo, Seven Days in the Art World explores the dynamics of creativity, taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life.”*
Provenance
Laney Salisbury & Aly Sujo, ISBN-10: 1594202206 ISBN-13: 9781594202209
“The true story of one of the twentieth century’s most audacious art frauds. Filled with extraordinary characters and told at breakneck speed, Provenance reads like a well-plotted thriller. But this is most certainly not fiction. It is the astonishing narrative of one of the most far-reaching and elaborate cons in the history of art forgery. Stretching from London to Paris to New York, investigative reporters Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo recount the tale of infamous con man and unforgettable villain John Drewe and his accomplice, the affable artist John Myatt. Together they exploited the archives of British art institutions to irrevocably legitimize the hundreds of pieces they forged, many of which are still considered genuine and hang in prominent museums and private collections today.”*
Handbook of Practical Planning for Art Collectors and Their Advisors
Ramsay H. Slugg, ISBN-10: 1641052899 ISBN-13: 9781641052894
“Art is an asset of passion, as author Ramsay H. Slugg begins this invaluable resource, yet it has unique and not unimportant financial characteristics. These elements make art possibly the most difficult asset to incorporate into an overall estate and financial plan. Handbook of Practical Planning for Art Collectors and Their Advisors addresses two essential elements of art ownership: planning for the ultimate disposition of the art, including how to represent the wealth represented by the art into any estate and financial planning, and the practical considerations for collectors as they collect and plan for the art’s eventual disposition.”*
Collecting Contemporary Art
Adam Lindemann, ISBN: 3836523086
“Whether you’re an art fan, aficionado, or collector, this completely unique book should be on your required reading list. Like a textbook for a class given by all of the world’s leading experts, Collecting Contemporary Art is the one and only book to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about the contemporary art market. The introduction explains the ABCs of buying art on the primary and secondary markets, at auction, and at art fairs and gives an overview of the world art scene and its social circles. The main body of the book brings together tell-all interviews with the biggest players in the global art market.”*
* The quoted content descriptions come directly from booksellers.
