Sotheby's: The Inside Story

by Peter Watson

Peter Watson exposes smuggling and the evasion of customs and national laws--and questions certain practices within and around the venerable art auction house. Using leads provided by the tip, and a huge cache of stolen documents, Watson details genuine experts, tomb robbers, as well as false names and claims, evaluations, despoilation of national treasures, and more.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Business, Crime, True Crime, Museums

324 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Peter Watson was educated at the universities of Durham, London and Rome, and was awarded scholarships in Italy and the United States.

After a stint as Deputy Editor of New Society magazine, he was for four years part of the Sunday Times ‘Insight’ team of investigative journalists. He wrote the daily Diary column of the London Times before becoming that paper’s New York correspondent. He returned to London to write a column about the art world for the Observer and then at The Sunday Times.

He has published three exposes in the world of art and antiquities and from 1997 to 2007 was a Research Associate at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He has published twelve books of non-fiction and seven novels, some under the pen name of Mackenzie Ford. He lives in London where his interests include theatre, opera and fishing.

Awards, Etc.

Psychology Prize
Durham University, 1961

Italian Government Music Scholarship
Rome University, 1965

United States Government Bursary “for future world leaders”
To study the psychiatric profession and its links to the administration of justice

Books of the Year

Psychology Today Magazine, 1978, for War on the Mind
Daily Mail, 1990, for Wisdom and Strength
Independent on Sunday, for A Terrible Beauty, 2000
Times Literary Supplement, for Ideas, 2005
Time Magazine, for The Medici Conspiracy, 2006
Queen’s Pardon
Copy from Patrick Meehan after I had written a series of articles which brought about his release from prison after he had been wrongly convicted of murder, 1976.

Gold Dagger – Crime Writers’ Association of Great Britain
For The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1983

Beacon Award – SAFE Award – Saving Antiquities for Everyone
For The Medici Conspiracy, 2006

US Library Association
The Great Divide.

Emmy Nomination
‘The Caravaggio Conspiracy, 1984.

Best sellers

The Caravaggio Conspiracy
Crusade
Landscape of Lies
Sotheby’s: The Inside Story
Nureyev
Lectures

Peter Watson has lectured at the following venues:

Universities

Cambridge
Berkeley
London
UCLA
Birmingham
Georgia
Georgia
Chicago
Birmingham
Santiago de Chile
York
Madrid
Harvard
Tufts
Military Bases

Fort Bragg
Private Institutions in

Cleveland
Berlin
Chicago
Belfast
Los Angeles
New York
Washington
Boston
Palm Beach
Other venues

Smithsonian Institution
National Museum, Copenhagen
Royal Society of Arts
Rugby School
Royal Library, Copenhagen
Festivals

Edinburgh
Oxford
Dartington
York

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A prior interest in Sotheby's/art crimes/documentary reporting is helpful, but thankfully this was right up my alley. I felt like the stories weren't balanced evenly in terms of how much time was spent on each portion (smuggling in Italy was given the majority of the book, with smuggling in India being squeezed into 15 really tight pages), but even that isn't much of a judgement; the book was fascinating and really insightful. Gripping from start to finish.

[Jason Carrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for a paper, well recommended. even as recent as 2019 they won’t check were a painting was during 1939-45, so long as it fetches a price

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What aggravates me, and I’m sure a lot of others is that Watson did an enormous amount of work and compiled a substantial amount of evidence and nothing effing happened! Sotheby’s simply carried on their numerous illegal doings and auction houses continue to operate unchecked with next to no external regulation.
It is SO frustrating! That being said this is a meticulous and fascinating work. Most definitely a must read for those in the art world. It’s a bit dated now but as we have established, the problems outlined by Watson still blatantly persist.

[Pranjal Awasthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a longtime admirer of Peter Watson's sweeping works on cultural history, Sotheby’s: The Inside Story felt notably more niche than his usual fare. That’s not to say it’s a bad book—far from it—but it didn’t quite grip me the way his broader historical narratives have.

The premise is fascinating: a deep-dive into the underbelly of the art market, focused on allegations of smuggling and illicit sales that shook iconic auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Watson meticulously traces three parallel scandals involving unprovenanced Egyptian artifacts, suspicious paintings, and Indian artworks, weaving in themes of elitism, internal whistleblowing, and investigative journalism.

James Hodges—the whistleblower—and Watson’s own sleuthing add intrigue, and there’s a solid foundation of reporting. However, the pacing lags at times. While Watson’s decision to include detailed provenance trails and inner institutional dynamics is understandable (and addressed in the epilogue), it sometimes slows the story’s momentum.

If you’re interested in the inner workings of the art world and auction houses, this is a worthy read. Just don’t expect an art history lesson

Also worth checking out: the TV adaptation, which adds a slick detective-drama finish to the real story.

[Barney Vickers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with obvious bias, this is something that has always interested me and proved and interesting read that broaden your understanding of the art worlds history. I loved the way it was written, reading less like an “expose”and more like a story. I think it is important to remember that the author did have an agenda and had already shaped the conclusion before it had started. The most telling being the continual defence of hodges despite his conviction and proven unreliability. A rotten apple in a Barrell of rotten apples? Maybe? But still not a great foundation to examine if the other apples are rotten.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to Peter Watson, the administrators of Sotheby's thought of themselves as the hoi polloi. In this book, Watson tells his story about the integrity and ethics of the art auction business. These opinions are not in sync.

I have lived in NYC amongst the downtown artists for 20 years. I saw the good and the bad and the worst. I did not understand the pricing until I read Don Thompson's THE $12 MILLION SHARK. That book, written in 2009, explained for me what was going on.

Sotheby's is still going strong in NYC and London. One of its departments now specializes in real estate. I do not know if they auction those properties.

[Sarah Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really fascinating, although - by now - dated, tale of smuggling and dodgy dealing in Sotheby's. As a reader, I found that I was not drawn to anyone in the book, including the narrator, which I think helped to read it more dispassionately. It's enjoyable for anyone interested in the art market, but probably even more so if you have a rough understanding of legal matters. I'd love to know if it made any differences to Sotheby's practices.

[Meghan Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting story about art theft and antiquities that I hadn't previously known about. It was a very easy read and the story was told very simply and was easy to follow. Very interested also to see a side of Sotheby's that people aren't still talking about but that is still relevant today and something to think about.

[Suzanne · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

This true story is about the amount of artifacts that weren't archaeologically excavated; the paintings that had no provenance; the Indian gods stolen from village shrines - and Sotheby's (world-renowned auction house) part in selling these items. The writing was sometimes ponderous and lengthy but the story was eye-opening!

[Brenda Marean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating tale of the machinations inside one of the world’s best known auction houses

[Thong May Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, although a little repetitive at times. It would do very well with some tighter editing.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think there was a scandal in the news about Sotheby's that prompted this title

[Judith Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information given about Sotheby's smuggling of art objects is fascinating, but for me the book went on too long.

[Jen Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting insight into the fine art world...but a slow read overall.