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Product Description
Review
“An irreverent but expert guide to the beguiling business of contemporary art.” Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist and The Logic of Life
“If you read no other book about art in your life, read the one that’s gripped me like a thriller for the past two days. … The $12 Million Stuffed Shark.”
— Richard Morrison, The Times (UK)
“Despite the dizzying extravagance of the world he explores, Thompson’s work remains grounded in hard analysis. And in describing a world that seems insane in its fervour, lust, and escalation, his steady, thorough, and even approach is refreshingly cool.”
— The Walrus
From the Hardcover edition.
“If you read no other book about art in your life, read the one that’s gripped me like a thriller for the past two days. … The $12 Million Stuffed Shark.”
— Richard Morrison, The Times (UK)
“Despite the dizzying extravagance of the world he explores, Thompson’s work remains grounded in hard analysis. And in describing a world that seems insane in its fervour, lust, and escalation, his steady, thorough, and even approach is refreshingly cool.”
— The Walrus
From the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark delves into the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world – artists, dealers, auction houses, and wealthy collectors. If it’s true – as so often said – that 85 percent of new contemporary art is bad, why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? The $12 Million Stuffed Shark explores money, lust, and the self-aggrandizement of possession in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work of art valuable while others are ignored.
In the style of the bestselling Freakonomics, Thompson uses economic concepts to explain the unique practices employed, to great success, in the international contemporary art market. He discusses branding and marketing and how various strategies are tailored to a wealthy clientele, driving a "must-have" culture. Drawing on exclusive interviews with both past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a surprising journey of discovery.
From the Hardcover edition.
In the style of the bestselling Freakonomics, Thompson uses economic concepts to explain the unique practices employed, to great success, in the international contemporary art market. He discusses branding and marketing and how various strategies are tailored to a wealthy clientele, driving a "must-have" culture. Drawing on exclusive interviews with both past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a surprising journey of discovery.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, revealing and thoughtful book on high art culture,
By Grant M (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art (Hardcover)
This book carefully reveals the branding and cut throat marketing that drive the high art world. Yet the author is obviously passionate about art. If you have ever wondered what makes art "good" you should read this book. It's not what you may think!
5.0 out of 5 stars
enter a world of crazy money and crazier art,
By
This review is from: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art (Paperback)
The author certainly did his research as he takes us right into the world of contemporary art from the artists, to the auction houses, art fairs, dealers and wherever else it leads him.This book will definitely blow your mind and the only flaw (which may be a copyright cost problem) was not enough of the actual art is seen in these pages. Then again you don't really need to actually "see" the art as even the buyers of said art often do not themselves. I kid you not. Contemporary art is often bought based on branding--who owned it before, what it cost prior to it coming up for this particular auction and whether it's sold at an evening auction or at an art fair. What Tom Wolfe did way back when with his Painted Word, Donald Thompson does not for this latest foray into understanding the art of today and the economic engine that drives it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (42 customer reviews) 58 of 58 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A shark that is not alone swimming in those waters...,
By Claude Reich - Published on Amazon.com
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This review is from: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark the Curious Economics of Contemporary Art (Hardcover)
Written by an economist who had access to the most important actors (collectors, dealers, auctioneers, curators, art fair organizers...) while doing his research, this book is an in-depth study of the way the contemporary art market functions, the part played by auction houses, dealers, big collectors, museums, the sometimes incestuous relationship that exists between all of them, how art is priced, how auctions are organized (on and off the scene), how gallery shows are sold (or pre-sold), the importance of art branding in creating an artist's reputation (the brand being the auction house, the gallery, the artist himself, a museum, or even a collector if he is important enough)and, most importantly, how these art brands are created. One insightful conclusion is that the art market, and contemporary art in particular, is as much brand-driven as any other high-end luxury market. Through case studies (the dealers Larry Gagosian or Jay Joplin, the artists Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons or Andy Warhol, the auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's, the collectors Charles Saatchi or Ronald Lauder...) and broader considerations on the overall economics of art, the author manages to write a book which is at the same time well informed (with some slight spelling mistakes though, e.g. the Portuguese collector Jose Berardo becoming "Joe Bernardo", or the dealer Faggionato sometimes mistakenly spelt "Faccionato"), to the point and easy to read. Among the more than twenty books available on this topic on Amazon's, this one is the best in my opinion (and I've read quite a few...).
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read,
By D. Moulton "BookmanNYC" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark the Curious Economics of Contemporary Art (Hardcover)
I'm more of a business and economics book reader than professed art reader and this book scratched that itch while adding something new and refreshing to my usual selections that kept me reading "just a few more pages".Thompson does a great job of getting behind how these Goliaths of art like Hirst and Bacon were created and issues of valuation and branding that are easy to ignore in the "magic" of art. I found myself reading it on the subway and after work whenever I had a second and I finished it in a couple days, which is pretty fast for me. Thompson never loses sight of the assumed intangibility of art--the inherent subjectivity--but encases it in economics in the same way vein as Freakonomics, and I've definitely finished this book with a few cocktail quotes and points that I've brought up in conversations. This is a great read that I can recommend to business, economics, and art readers. Thompson walks the fine line of these areas to write a book that will engage them all. 60 of 70 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A very limited view,
By Kcolorado - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The $12 Million Stuffed Shark the Curious Economics of Contemporary Art (Hardcover)
I can't rate this book as highly as the other reviewers.There are parts of the book that are very good and flesh out the startling numbers we hear from auctions and sales of contemporary art. The author is an economist and he sets out to understand both the both the economics and marketing of art today. He looks at art as a commodity which it is to the people he quotes and interviews. His statement,"The art trade is the least transparent and least regulated major commercial activity in the world." is dead on correct. By including some quotes from critic Jerry Saltz and occasionally Dave Hickey and Robert Hughes, he does touch on the aesthetics in a very glancing way. But he completely misses the boat when he makes blanket pronouncements; "Artists who do not find mainstream gallery representation within a year or two of graduation are unlikely ever to achieve high prices, or see their work appear at fairs or auctions or in art magazines." Huh, every heard of Mary Heilmann, Christo or thousands of others? Luckily for us, most of the artists we revere today didn't follow that path. He makes other statements and tossed around statistics that are not footnoted and therefore hard to verify. I can't argue with the reality behind some of them; that most artists will leave the art world before they are 30 and few with find representation with mainstream, much less `branded" galleries. However, Thompson allows himself to be swept away by the hype of the "branded" galleries and the auction houses and thereby appear pretty ridiculous at times. In fairness, I do think his book might be useful reading for art students, so at least they have some understanding of the market and how difficult it is to hit the top. But if one is trying to get an understanding of all that is going on today in art, its diversity, energy and excitement, you only have to go beyond the `branded galleries" auction houses and take a look at the contemporary galleries and museums in your own city. Art is a commodity but luckily for all of us, it is much more than that. |
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