A list of publications that take readers inside the artworld
to examine the innerworkings of the artworld, for better
or worse, and provide a better understanding of how
the artworld works.
Websites are in alphabetical order
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PUBLICATIONS ARE LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
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The Art Biz: The Covert World of Collectors,
Dealers, Auction Houses, Museums, and Critics
Author/Editor: Alice Goldfarb Marquis
Reveals the hype, hypocrisy, greed, manipulation and secrecy that
takes place in the contemporary art world. Although written in 1991,
unfortunately much of what the author writes about is applicable today.
Publisher: Contemporary Books
Publication Date: 1991
The Dark Side of the Boom: The Excesses of the Art Market in the
21st Century
Author: Georgina Adam
Scrutinizes the excesses and extravagances that the 21st-century
explosion of the contemporary art market brought in its wake. The
buying of art as an investment, temptations to forgery and fraud, tax
evasion, money laundering and pressure to produce more and more art
all form part of this story, as do the upheavals in auction houses and
the impact of the enhanced use of financial instruments on art transactions.
Publisher: Lund Humphries
Publication date: 2018
Framed: Hollywood’s Dealer to the Stars Tells All
Author/Editor: Ted Volpe
A blow-by-blow chronicle of the rise and fall of international art dealer Tod Volpe
who, at the height of his success, had a star-studded Hollywood clientele.
Volpe details how his life spiraled out of control in the 1990s and erupted
in the scandalous fraud accusations that earned him two- years in federal
prison. This detailed probe into the shadowy world of art dealing exposes
how high culture and civility conceal boardroom swindling, illegal price fixing,
and money laundering.
Publisher: ECW Press
Publication Date: 2003
High Art Down Home: An Economic Ethnography of a Local Art Market
Author: Stuart Plattner.
Examines the social and economic factors that govern art markets outside of
New York, and explains the conundrums and paradoxes of the art world.
Publisher: University of Chicago
Publication Date: 1997
100 Secrets of the Art World: Everything You Always Wanted to
Know from Artists, Collectors and Curators, but Were Afraid to Ask
Editors: Thomas Girst and Magnus Resch
Discusses what major artists consider their best-kept secret and what is regarded
as confidential knowledge among the key players of the global art market.
Contains anecdotes, advice and personal stories from artists, museum directors,
art dealers, auction house insiders, collectors, and more.
Publisher: Koenig Books
Publication date: 2016
The Power of Art: Money, Power, Beauty
Author: Michael Findlay
A New York art dealer explains the market for art and a close up and personal
view of almost a half century in the business of art.
Publisher: Prestel USA
Publication date: Revised 2014.
Seeing Out Louder: Art Criticism 2003-2009
Author: Jerry Saltz
The senior art critic for New York Magazine, signals out mismanaged museums,
out-of-control auction houses, misguided artists, the gossip pages of
Artforum, and the tent-city casinos known as Art Fairs.
Publisher: Hudson Hills Press, LLC
Publication date: 2009
Seven Days in the Art World
Author: Sarah Thornton
Reveals the inner workings of the 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. Explores the dynamics of creativity,
taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life.
Publisher: W. W. Norton Company
Publication date: 2009
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
Author: Don Thompson
Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the
decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? Covers the economics and psychology
of the contemporary art world.
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date: 2010