The Auctioneer: Adventures in the Art Trade

by Simon De Pury, William Stadiem

Just as William Goldman, the ultimate screenwriter, took us inside Hollywood, Simon de Pury, the ultimate art player, will take us inside an even more secretive business, whose staggering prices, famous collectors, and high crimes are front page news almost every day. The former Chairman of Sotheby's Europe, the former owner of Sotheby's rival Phillips de Pury, and currently a London-based dealer and advisor to great collectors around the world, Simon has one of the highest profiles of any non-artist in the art world. Even though he has an ancient title and the aura of an elegant Swiss banker, Simon is famous as an iconoclast and is known as "The Mick Jagger of Auctions" for his showmanship and exuberance. His whole life in art has been devoted to bringing art to the public and to the juxtaposition of high and low. Movie stars, musicians, and athletes compete with hedge funders and billionaires for the great art, and Simon is their pied piper; he wants to turn the world onto art and this book will be his message.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Memoir, History, Biography, Business

240 pages, Hardcover

Published May 3, 2016

Reviews

[Taryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Auctioneer Simon du Pury shares the story of his life. He explains what lead him into the art world and describes his ascent from a Sotheby's intern to the "Mick Jagger of auctions." He also introduces us to the men who had a great impact on his life and career: Swiss art dealer Ernst Beyeler, auctioneer Peter Wilson, and art collector Baron Heini Thyssen. There were many interesting anecdotes, but the art and auctioneering aspects were overshadowed by the intricate details of the lives of the rich and famous. Despite my interest in the arts, I think I was the wrong demographic for this book.

In art, knowledge--of the art, and of the buyers--was power, and knowledge meant business. Ignorance could only be measured in misery and failure, never bliss.

I really liked Hannah Rothschild's The Improbability of Love and my educational background is in the fine arts, so I thought I would really enjoy The Auctioneer. However, it was too much Top 1% gossip for me. The 1-percenters are going to play a large part in a book on this topic, but it was just too many details. I ended up skimming through many sections of the book, because many paragraphs read like lists of names and places. Not only do we learn about the lovers, finances, and estates of the art collectors, but we also learn those details about people in their immediate social circle. The gossip didn't entertain me because I had no clue who 90% of these people were and there were too many to get to know them well via the text. It might have a different effect on the wealthy and/or those that came into adulthood during the 1980s. All that being said, de Pury has an amazing memory! As a brief example of what I am talking about, here is a random sample:

Denise had just had the house redecorated by the interior decorator of the moment, Renzo Mongiardiano, an Italian former theatrical set designer who had been discovered by Stavros Niarchos to redo his Kulm Hotel in St. Moritz. Once Niarchos "discovered" Mongiardiano, so did the rest of the Jet Set. He also had the Kennedy imprimatur, thorough Lee Radziwill, so he was unstoppable.

(I actually did know who the Niarchos family was, thanks to Paris Hilton :)) So why did I keep reading? There was some interesting information buried in the sea of proper nouns. While I found the text dry, Simon du Pury himself is full of personality. The writing style is pithy. Every time I thought he was getting a little pompous, he would display some self-effacing humor. The humor is not always politically correct. It seemed overly irreverent and out-of-touch to compare business struggles to atrocities that largely affected the lower classes, whether tongue-in-cheek or not. I thought it was an odd direction to go in the current political climate.

Was I delusional? Maybe, but if you love art, and you believe in art, you always know that art will come back, and take you along with it.

I admired Simon de Pury's vision. He is not afraid to push boundaries and shake things up. He is honest about his failures, as well as his successes. His career has had many highs-and-lows and he walks us through all of them. One of my favorite anecdotes was from the beginning of his career when he accidentally sliced into a priceless work of art. Can you imagine? He also tells the highly entertaining story of how a jilted lover got revenge on him via an art auction. The Auctioneer gives a real-world glimpse at the eccentric buyers and sellers that could have stepped right out of Rothschild's fictional book. My jaw dropped when I read about the buyer who spent over $150 million on two paintings by very famous artists and publicly expressed his wish to be cremated with them!

The moral is that if you buy the best, in the long run, if you can stay the course, you will not overpay.

I love books about unique careers and I would have loved more insider information about auctioneering and art, within the context of de Pury's career. He briefly discusses how the face of collectors has changed from royalty to MBAs and how different cultures view auction practices. The back cover teases a reveal of a "[high] crime of an industry known to the elite few, until now." There are two things that I think that sentence could be referring to and the most interesting of the two is revealed in the first twenty pages. The ways in which art and auctions are impacted by historical events and the role art plays in politics is also interesting. How World War II affected the art world, even now, is endlessly fascinating to me. During his career, de Pury was able to play a part in global politics. While he was working with Thyssen, they were asked to provide paintings to set the proper mood at Ronald Reagan and Mikhael Gorbachev's Geneva Summit in 1985. There is also a really interesting section about an auction he held to give exposure to Russia's "unofficial" artists.

I ask not for whom the gavel tolls. I know it tolls for me.

Simon de Pury has had an amazing life! The man designed his own Swatch watch! In my plebeian eyes, that is the pinnacle of success! ;) However, I prefer memoirs that are more personal. I enjoyed the introspective tone of the final page of this book, more than the gossip of the previous chapters. The name-dropping reduced my interest in this book considerably, but I think the audiobook may have been slightly more enjoyable. The sample I listened to was read with the exuberance that I imagined de Pury speaking with. I've also enjoyed listening to a series of Simon du Pury interviews from Big Think.

While The Auctioneer was just an okay read for me, ArtNet's review claims the excessive name-dropping is "the most enjoyable, and creative, aspect of the book." Just like in art, it is all a matter of preference! If you are a fan of contemporary art and would like a glimpse into the lives of the obscenely wealthy, this book may be for you. Or if you are like me, and are interested enough in the subject to dig through piles of names to get to the good stuff, it might be worth a read.

Some positive reviews, because I may just be the wrong demographic for this book: Kirkus | Publisher's Weekly. The first six chapters are available through Amazon's Look Inside feature.


____________________________________
Many thanks to Goodreads Giveways and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book. I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[John-Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's my fault, really. Had I taken a moment to read the dust jacket of this book, I would have discovered that it was rife with anecdotes about the rich and famous, a topic which I could not have less interest in if I tried. I can't imagine a segment of the population that inspires less interest and wastes more ink than the idle rich and please believe me when I say that that opinion does not come from a place of envy. I'm not about to stand in the way of someone that wants to shell out $10 million on a canvas painted pure white or whose idea of a weekend getaway is traveling to the middle of the Sahara on camelback and drinking fruit juices out of syringes (and no, I'm not making that last one up). However, I also don't want to waste my time reading about them, especially when there are vastly more interesting people doing vastly more interesting things with their time and money.

Unfortunately, the book itself is much more about the glitz and glamour of the people buying all this art than about the art itself. In fact, if this book were a movie, the art would have a walk on role at best. Instead, the reader is subjected to a laundry list of counts and countesses, baron, dukes, earls, and Russian oligarchs whose only claim to fame are the conspicuous ways in which they spend their immense wealth. Perhaps there are those that will get a kick out of living vicariously through such people. I can name one such individual right off the bat: Simon de Pury.

I must preface this by saying that I think he's probably a very nice gentlemen and I'm certain he knows his art, but sake's alive! We all knew people in school whose whole raison d'etre was to be just like the cool kids. Well, I'm here to tell you that de Pury seems to be the adult version. In addition, there's a tone in the book, particularly the beginning, that comes off as haughty and aristocratic. I'm not sure that it was his intent, and it's not surprising considering the company he keeps, but it's there nevertheless.

There were many quotes in the book that had me doing double-takes upon reading, but here's one I couldn't resist writing down: "People only care for things if they are worth something." Really? I have a daughter whose prize possession is a beat-up old teddy bear. Not only isn't it worth a red cent, we'd probably have to pay someone just to take it off our hands. But doesn't it derive its priceless quality from her, and not from the world? You may say, "Well, he didn't mean monetary worth." Actually, I'm pretty sure he did, because the quote was in reference to a couple that brought him what they believed to be a valuable heirloom. When he indicated it was worthless (monetarily) they shoved it back in the box they had lovingly and carefully packed it in and went away dejected. Hence, his quote. Again, perhaps it came out the wrong way, but that's what his co-author was there to do, make sure things didn't come out the wrong way. Right?

There are more intrigues, affairs, improprieties, and oddities than I care to remember in this book and the whole work seems to be one big valentine to Simon de Pury's favorite person: Simon de Pury. I simply cannot fathom his worldview. For example, he mentions how "generous" millionaires and billionaires are for spending $19,000 on tickets to a charity auction. Have we lost all understanding of the definition of the word? If I have a triple-tiered cake and I give you three crumbs off of it, am I being "generous?" I understand that the people that inhabit this world are his bread and butter and it behooves him to treat them with kid gloves, but his attempts to paint them as regular Joe and Joanne Six-Packs were laughable.

After reading this review, you may think that I'm some sort of "Occupy Wall Street" death-to-the-1% anarchist, but you would be very wrong. However, if I had to read another one of these kind of books...

[Jacobo Carballada · Rating 1 out of 5]

La historieta de un niño de papá de una familia bien de suiza.
Un tipo poco brillante incapaz de completar unos estudios, que confia en la suerte de una advina para tomar decisiones importantes y en los agradecimientos confiesa que no le gusta leer ya que no tiene capacidad para concentrarse.

Cuenta su historia en el mundo del arte donde a base de contactos de su familia y su posición consigue labrarse un futuro.
Desde su mentor Beyeler que le asigna un aprendizaje en una casa de subastas suiza, sus inicios de carrera en Sothebys y su progresión allí hasta acabar de consultor del Baron Thyssen que abandona para continuar en Sothebys y finalmente probar con su propia casa de subastas.

Hace gracia como a veces quiere darle un toque de hombre hecho a si mismo y nos cuenta la situación dramática de convencer a papi para que le pagaran su curso exclusivo en Sothebys o que tuviera que vivir en un pisucho en Londres hasta que alguno de sus contactos le consiguió algo mejor. Especialmente dramático para el autor es el hecho de tener que trabajar en la sección de muebles de Sothebys visitando "viviendas modestas" (Claro, las que venden mobiliario para subastar en Sothebys ??') recorriendo UK en un utilitario normal.

A partir de ahí ya empieza el mundo del lujo y lo que realmente le gusta al autor (que no escribió el libro ) y con su alma de alcahueta nos va contando historietas entre bambalinas de lo que es este mundillo.

El ego del De Pury no tiene límite y en el libro se llega a comparar con Francisco de Asis, Colon, Napoleon y no sé cuantos más. es remarcable la superficialidad absoluta cuando habla de las mujeres.

Un tipo casposo sin talento para el arte. Y se nota precisamente en que no hay ni una sola apreciación artística y todo se base en el caro o barato. Cuanto más caro, mejor . En el libro intenta justificar que su atracción por el arte es algo físico pero cualquier referencia al arte es en terminos económicos.

Poco recomendable a menos que te guste las lecturas de revistas del corazón tipo "Hola".

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed a look into the distanced, absurd world of art dealing, I had some major problems with this book. First, de Pury never seems to acknowledge his own privileged upbringing. Growing up as part of the Swiss elite, de Pury admits multiple times that he was never a good student. But naturally his family's connections allowed him to meet and work under many prominent dealers. For example, one of these connections set him up with a plan to work in Bern for a month, then Sotheby's in London and New York for a year each, and then another year at Malborough Fine Art, and yet we are expected to feel sorry for him when it turns out a job at Sotheby's was unavailable at the time and that he his parents would have to shell out thousands of dollars for him to attend the auction house's art course instead.

Second, I wish de Pury had spent more time on details of his life's journey - e.g. odd tasks he had to do at the auction houses, how he accumulated knowledge of art (since he proclaims he is usually too busy to read), and surprising behind-the-scene facts about auctions - rather than which duke married what model or how much a widow's collection sold for. Of course, this was probably a deliberate choice of his ghostwriter/publishing house. That also segues into my third problem with The Auctioneer, which is really a problem with the editors. Not only are names spelled correctly and incorrectly in the same paragraph (Ruedi and two words later, Rudi; Brian Ivon-Jones or is it Ivan-Jones?; And the last name of his major boss, Thyssen, is at one point written with a serpentine three s's), but there are also misspellings of common words like "viila" for villa, "ex-amabssador,""Amercan hedge-funders," and "gilded staute of Michael Jackson." Other favorite phrases of mine were "also aka" and "Arnault lived, spoke, and talked culture."

2.5 Stars - Entertaining, yes, but also a low-quality read.

[Heather Conyers · Rating 1 out of 5]

painfully self-indulgent. Part of the reason why the art world is seen as elitist and exclusionary

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book recounts some interesting tales in the world of art dealing. The author of this book has a long and storied career in the art world and auction houses. He has worked with many high-profile collectors, securing and selling extremely expensive works. I like the fact that the author is trying to make art and art appreciation more accessible to the masses, in part by writing this book. I was shocked at some of the seedy stories that came from this book. I didn't expect an art auction book to be dramatic.

This book was especially interesting to me due to the recent heist at the Louvre. I can understand why people would target high value items like art and priceless gems, though I disagree with the theft. Art theft seems like a thing of the past, but it clearly isn't. I enjoyed learning about the big names in the art world and the wild stories that came from it. I never would have imagined half of this stuff.

[Pis Tacho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Si vienes buscando historias de subastas y conocer un poco cómo funcionan, no es tu libro. Muy teatralizado, historietas de gente con mucha pasta que adora y vive por y para el lujo y un narrador que no se queda atrás en estos gustos.
Pero oye, qué esperaba de un libro de hombre blanco forrado, privilegiado e inmerso en las dinámicas del mercado del arte

[sendann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just...not very good, because it doesn’t have any humor about itself. Hardcore namedroppy bragathon books can be lovely when they have a fun, self deprecating, long point of view woven throughout. They can also succeed if the stories, setting, and information is so rich and detailed that it takes you in and shows you its world without apology. Unfortunately this book stops short at every opportunity to welcome the reader into a world using either method. It feels like it was written for friends of the author and those who appear in its pages. A bummer, because I would just love to read a deep, dynamic memoir about life in the commerce department of the fine art world.

[Debra Komar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The jacket promises a gossipy tell-all style trip through the high-priced art world. What the text delivers is the autobiography of an auctioneer few people have heard of. There is a lot of name dropping but the references mean little to anyone who wasn't part of the jet-set in Europe in the 1970s. Two celebrities - Sarah Jessica Parker and Leonardo DiCaprio - feature near the end and there are virtually no discussions of the artists themselves. The only time art is mentioned is to cite the prices each piece went for - not what interests me about art. I was hoping for some talk about the art of auctioneering: how to get bids going and the mob mentality that keeps people bidding long after they should stop. There's none of that. Little of it is actually set in the auction room. Disappointing, and a little misleading.

[Sharon J · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intruging insight into the unusual world of art auctions but also into the man himself, Simon de Pury, who provides compelling anecdotes , 'gossip' about a wide range of rich and famous people and the fascinating world of auctioning which is obviously an adrenaline rush for those involved. His story is infectious and I really enjoyed reading about this unusual environment. While there were parts that were dry and a little tedious for the most part it was amusing and interesting.
Thank you to The Reading Room and publisher Allen & Unwin for a copy to read and review.

[Israel Montoya Baquero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bastante regular esta serie de vivencias de un subastador de prestigio, la verdad.

[Cristhian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esperaba algo mucho más... saucy.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sorry to say that I really did not care for this audiobook. I thought that the subject would be really interesting- it was anything but. It seemed to be a mishmash of stories with no real point. There was a tremendous amount of name-dropping done. Unfortunately, I recognized very few of them. The author alternately bragged and put on his humble suit. It was tiring and not terribly interesting. Making the audiobook more unpleasant was the narrator. He read rather emphatically and that was tiring as well. I also did not like hearing Van Gogh referred to as Van Goff. Several of the narrator's pronunciations were annoying.

Would not recommend, I am afraid.

[Roxy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly I’d like to thank the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book.
The Auctioneer is an interesting and revealing book about the multi million dollar business of fine art. It is very informative and, being written by an insider, it gives you a real feel for the secretive world of art auctions. While it was a fascinating read, I did find that certain parts were a little dry and at times slightly haughty. But overall it was an enlightening read for anyone interested in the world of fine art.

[Mary Crotty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this biography, barely- a lot of skimming. A not very pleasant main character and the book read like a diary fleshed out by a ghost writer which i think is exactly what it was. Lots of dates, names, places, not a lot of insight or projection or contemplation. Pretty boring. Some interesting comments on the oligopolic art world and naming of names - especially famous actors- that was interesting. Apparently Leonardo DiCaprio's acting in Walk Street wasn't really acting ....

[Niki · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 10%

Simon De Pury is an annoyingly pompous man, but I might have been able to trudge through his memoir (for the sake of art) if the narration hadn't been so teeth-gratingly bad. I could say that I might revisit this in print, but I know I really won't.

[Aleka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lectura penosa pero útil para comprender en qué consiste, o más bien, en qué se ha convertido el arte contemporáneo. Bueno, y para aprender en qué no gastar el tiempo: en leer libros escritos por negros para satisfacer el ansia de notoriedad de un pijo con dinero.

Simon de Pury, por mucho que se empeñe, no pertenece al viejo y puro mundo. El del barón Thyssen, el de Peter Wilson, el de Beyeler, etc. Es un niño bien suizo, que tuvo la oportunidad de formarse con los mejores gracias a las llamadas que hicieron sus papás, y que la aprovechó. Nada más. No tiene estudios, ni le gusta leer, tampoco escribir, parece. De hecho, no creo ni que le guste el arte. Lo que le gusta, lo que le apasiona de verdad, es conocer a la gente que colecciona arte. Y ya sabemos que los oligarcas rusos coleccionan, pero eso no les convierte necesariamente en personas interesantes.

Su ego es inmenso, y lo exhibe sin un resquicio de pudor. Contrariamente a lo que se pueda pensar, esto es justo lo que salva al libro: que habla de lo que sabe. De dinero, de relaciones, de millonarios haciendo cosas, y entre esas cosas, está el comprar arte. No se puede hablar de ese estilo de vida con modestia. No se puede disimular la satisfacción que produce pertenece al club más exclusivo del mundo. ¿Por qué habría de hacerlo? Eso le convertiría en un snob. Y esta, creo, es la lección más importante de esta lectura (aparte de algunos cotilleos más que jugosos).

[Lorraine · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The Auctioneer” is a memoir by Simon de Pury, a prominent auctioneer of fine art. It’s not as detailed as you would expect from an autobiography. In fact, it gives little personal detail. I ended the book not feeling that I knew much about de Pury, and certainly not much about the people close to him, such as his wives and children.

Overall, I found this a rather flat book. De Pury comes across as rather arrogant. The world he works in is so exclusive that readers unfamiliar with it have little context for his claims of extraordinary achievements. Although many of the names he mentions were famous in their day, few are well known now, disadvantaging a significant number of readers.

More importantly, there is little spirit in this book. Few anecdotes are told in any detail; we don’t get a strong sense of many of the people de Pury interacts with; and what should be a vivid and exciting life simply doesn’t come across that way.

This, I think, is best suited to anyone who is an aficionado of fine art, especially of the auctions in which it changes hands. Many others will struggle to stay interested.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as William Goldman, the ultimate screenwriter, took us inside Hollywood, Simon de Pury, the ultimate art player, will take us inside an even more secretive business, whose staggering prices, famous collectors, and high crimes are front page news almost every day. The former Chairman of Sotheby's Europe, the former owner of Sotheby's rival Phillips de Pury, and currently a London-based dealer and advisor to great collectors around the world, Simon has one of the highest profiles of any non-artist in the art world. Even though he has an ancient title and the aura of an elegant Swiss banker, Simon is famous as an iconoclast and is known as "The Mick Jagger of Auctions" for his showmanship and exuberance. His whole life in art has been devoted to bringing art to the public and to the juxtaposition of high and low. Movie stars, musicians, and athletes compete with hedge funders and billionaires for the great art, and Simon is their pied piper; he wants to turn the world onto art and this book will be his message.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe this is 2½ stars if I’m feeling generous. I felt like Robin Leach should be reading this book to me. It would’ve been appropriate.

I’ll give Simon De Pury credit, he made it in his chosen profession, and you have to respect that even if I don’t respect him for writing so glowingly about his clairvoyant.

This guy’s world is so far removed from mine that it’s hard to relate. I’m not going to hold that against him. I enjoyed Hunter H. Thompson’s stuff even though he’s worlds apart from me also. However, Hunter was an incredible writer. Neither Simon De Pury nor William Stadiem appears close to that guy’s equal. This book is mostly about dishing on the wealthy art collecting set, though there are occasional fun glimpses into the high-flying world of art auctions I guess.

This book dates itself a bit with some of the names dropped, including a collection of Russian oligarchs and Harvey Weinstein. Yuck.

Anyway, there it is.

[anna b · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a book about an auctioneer but not exactly the process and act of auctioning and the gravel. This book reads like a tabloid of the art world, maybe Daily Mail of the art world compiled into a book, that proves to show that to be somewhere in art, you have to be either an aristocrat, very well-to-do, an elite, politician or anyone who is related to someone as mentioned previously. It's full of gossips about people and how strings were pulled. Of course the author did try to be humble but didn't do a good job out of it, at least he wasn't condescending. I don't even know why I bothered to finish this book but I love gossips so I added one more star and take this read as a Gossip Girl read. I mean, even Gossip Girl has a plot.
Edit to add that this book needs a serious round of editing. The spelling errors are really obvious!

[Igitur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not so much a biography as a really good insight in the profession (intentionally or not). As most readers, at first I was bored by name-dropping and joys of the 1 %'ters and wanted more action in the actual auction house, but sometime after two thirds of the book it dawned on me - it's the point. Auctions are fun, but not so important as finding sellers, buyers and art. And as Mr. de Pury said and has shown us with this book you have to know people. The important people.
All in all, quite a lot of interesting information for people who are interested in art market.
Side note: I have to admit that on more than one accasion I almost felt sorry that I spent a good part of my youth working on my diploma and not sleeping with right people :D

[Giulio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poteva essere un libro sul mercato dell'arte (ma non lo è, perché tratta troppo superficialmente i vari eventi e le dinamiche che lo caratterizzano), poteva essere un memoir (ma neanche questo gli è venuto bene, dato che le vicende sono raccontate in modo troppo frettoloso e sono frammentate tra loro), alla fine ha scelto di essere solo una grande celebrazione di sé e del proprio ego con listoni interminabili di luoghi di lusso e persone famose (magari incontrate anche per caso).

Non mi aspettavo di certo Chatwin, ma qui siamo ai livelli delle ciacole da osteria.

Ps: nei ringraziamenti finali, De Pury ammette di non aver letto molti libri in vita sua.
Che dire...si vede.

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this! I would’ve loved more details about how he felt actually running the auctions and that really did seem to be one of his great passions was performing at auctions running the show and getting the best prices. I was fascinated by his childhood in Switzerland, and thinking about Basel’s history as a city of art. I also love knowing about his parents living in Japan while he was so far away back in Europe. The book is really propulsive and lively, and really his career was active before the big changes in the art market with contemporary art although he was part of that too in the end. Really enjoyable book!

[Lucky · Rating 3 out of 5]

虽然作者都是拍卖师，但这本书与《苏富比的早餐》的侧重点完全不同，后者是从经济层面解构艺术世界，并未跳出艺术本身，前者着墨的对象则是拍卖行高级从业者与那些声望和财富过剩之人，而艺术只不过是他们生活的裙边。

这位精明的拍卖大师细细回顾了自己光辉的从业经历，仿佛一个娱乐周刊记者，如数家珍地道出那些富豪显贵的茶余饭后，当然更重要的是自己与他们如何交好。他对那些给自己带来利益的人颇多溢美之词，对那些曾与自己有过龃龉之人也丝毫不吝讽刺；他笔下的任何麻烦绝不可能是自己惹出来的，若非另有祸首，便是无可奈何。

当然，作者的经历与专业性所带来的价值是不能被否定的，如非通过这样一位大师的叙述，我们也很难从别处获得某些意味深长的细节，尤其是关于前苏联的一段：铁幕里那次成功的非官方艺术家作品拍卖会结束后，拍卖收入全部被政府收入囊中，转折点竟是因为撒切尔夫人看不惯这件事，而戈尔巴乔夫此时正准备飞往伦敦会见首相，为了外交关系的稳定才将拍卖款项如数发还给艺术家们。类似这样微妙的事态变化，总是值得再三玩味。

书中这群拥有着骇人头衔的名流们，看似与我们毫无交集，但事实上——尽管未必意识得到，当我们走进博物馆或美术馆，欣赏里面的那些展览和陈列的时候，他们的痕迹不曾从上面消失过。

[Ogi Ogas · Rating 3 out of 5]

My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.

[Mary Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, for someone who says he's been "seduced" by art, he doesn't talk about art at all. He just sounds like he's been seduced by a lifestyle of the rich and famous art collectors, which is all this book is about. It's an interesting read if you want to see how nepotism and aristocracy are alive and well, but it also might just depress you.

[Krista Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

Memoir of an auctioneer and art dealer. Paints an interesting picture of how one moves in that business and also how one loves art. More about the person than I really cared to know, but none of the personal relationship stuff was meaningfulness. I do wish there were more about the business end, and I might look for other books.

[Book Grocer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase The Auctioneer here for just $10!

Interesting insight into the art auction world. If you love art, the business side of art and interesting personalities, you’ll enjoy this book.

Alicia - The Book Grocer

[Antonia A · Rating 1 out of 5]

An egocentric view of the art world with a misogynistic take towards artists- it is no wonder women artists have been under represented when the ‘art leaders’ desire for money and running with the big boys. Women artists are not mentioned in this book! Badly written and a boring take on what could have been an interesting narrative.