A Year in the Art World

by Matthew Israel

An insider’s detailed chronicle of the inner workings of the contemporary art world. The world of contemporary art has become more globalized and transparent in the last few decades, yet it is still perceived as closed-off and obscure. In A Year in the Art World , Matthew Israel takes the reader on a cross-continental journey through a year in the field of art, lifting the veil on a culture that emerges as diverse, adventurous, nuanced, and meaningful. From Los Angeles and New York to Paris and Hong Kong, Israel encounters artists, curators, critics, gallerists, and institutions, uncovering the working lives of these art-world figures from the renowned to the unseen. Drawing on exclusive interviews and expertly researched content, Israel ventures into the inner workings of the art industry to What is it that people in the art world actually do? What drives interest in working with art? How do artworks acquire value? And how has technology transformed today’s art world? Anchoring the narrative in the history, economics, and cultural dynamics of the field, this fascinating story reveals how “the art world” describes a realm that is both surprisingly vast and deeply interconnected. 40 color illustrations

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2020

Reviews

[Trevor Dutcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed, hoping for deeper and more substantive discussion of the inner workings of the industry. The book promises to ‘uncover the working lives of artists, curators, gallerists and critics, and reveal what they really do.’ I don’t think it delivered on that promise. It’s an interesting high-level intro recapping discussions with people who hold these positions, but it was far more superficial than I had hoped. It’s less about what they do and more about stories they told about things that happened or people they met. Fine as a simpler intro, but if you want more substance, this might not be it.

[Justin Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a straightforward overview of the many ways in which people work in the art world, but it did not ever really seem to be part of or inside that world itself. In that way I was underwhelmed. More diaristic substance and introspection would have given a weight and personality to this book that is rather missed by me, personally. However, there are a handful of thought provoking reflections by a few key individuals that are in response to prompts by Israel which I saved for reference. These pieces better begin to allude to more in-depth, resonant representations about not just how but WHY people pursue and remain in this line of work.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book! Very interesting people were interviewed and the author does an excellent job telling their story and providing really interesting quotations. Actually reread the section about Klaus Biesenbach because it was so inspiring.

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought it from the shop inside the Canadian National Art Gallery, Ottawa.

Will you come out appreciating art and how it is important for our world after reading this book : NO

It's too skewed towards everything modern art and everything American or with LA/ NY as center. Koons and whatnot cover the book.

The closest analogy I can think of is if a realtor in Toronto wrote a tell all book about the housing sector in Toronto focusing on the big sellers, the big buyers, builders, engineering schools, construction companies, mortgage brokers, realtors, banks, etc.

Complete disappointment.

[dane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently added Art History to my degree, and so I want to start venturing out into contemporary art non-fiction. I found this in the art section of my university town’s bookshop and picked it because of the cover and seemingly survey nature.

I can’t really say it was an ‘insider’s view,’ like the orange bubble on the cover promises. It’s still a third party perspective with a lot of self-promo of the art website he helped develop. Still, despite the distance the author has from these various positions, I did learn a broad (mostly surface level) amount of the contemporary art world that has me eager to learn more. I would definitely recommend this for beginners in the art world, like me, but don’t expect it to be meticulously researched and in-depth. Also, the last chapter was unexpectedly short yet had so much promise which was an upsetting way to finish.

Here goes my non-fiction era, I guess?

[Wendelle]

An instructive tour of the often-esoteric nature of the art world. This book conceptualizes the exploration by visiting different sites and events of the art world in a calendar year. Each book chapter focuses on explaining the role of a major player or type of participant in the ecosystem of fine art, such as galleries, museum directors, curators, fabricators, collectors, art writers, art schools and biennials; then each chapter also engages with a leading apotheosis of each role to dramatize the challenges, questions and possibilities that such roles face today. The wide variety of niches and vibrancy of dialogue in the art world underscore the role of intermediation and collaboration in the production and consumption of studio art.

[Elisefur · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not an easy project to cover the basics of the art world, and I think Matthew Israel did a decent job. I sort of enjoyed reading the interviews, as that’s just typically how people talk in the art world, which isn’t that fun though. There’s not much one can do with the information offered here, but I’d recommend it to curious outsiders.

[Malena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was interesting, although not quite what I had expected based on the title.

Rather than offering a specific perspective on the art world, the author offers several interviews with select people and write chapters each about some facet of the art world today, without really discussing what it is for him himself to be an “insider” (it doesn’t sound like he necessarily interacts with the interviewees regularly).

He describes some kind of interesting case study topics, like how art is stored, what art advisors and critics do, and how art fabrication companies work. But overall it still feels a bit… vague? In that it’s a few selected case studies, but some of them are clearly very niche (like his description of an alternative, experimental art school that was attempted for about a decade before it was discontinued).

Overall, I am still not sure I know much about what the range of the contemporary art scene looks like from an insider view, which is what I had been hoping to learn. I did learn some other interesting things along the way, though!

[Arlo Babenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

A year in the art world by Matthew Israel is well, exactly as the packaging says, a book about a year in the art world.
It lays out a nice introduction to many aspects of the art world beyond only the creation by an artist, such as explaining fabrication, artist estates, and what curators and gallery directors do. But I must highlight that is an introduction to an art work that is not accessible to many, the part of the art world with the most amount of money. The sphere that contains such artist like Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, just to name a few.
Due to its broad and encompassing choice of title, an expectations is set in place: that the book is able to cohesively cover everything that happens in the art world within a year. I will spoil this for you now but it does not, and even in the preface and introduction it is acknowledged by the author. For such a promising title, what was actually being told and shown in the book is mostly coming from the Wester world: America, Europe or the UK. Only mentioning Asia in the larger context of International exhibition, Art fairs and Biennials, but not paying it much attention and focus.
I understand that it's simply not possible to talk about absolutely everything that may happen or has happened within a year, but with a title like that you'd think you'd see more of an effort it.
Still, it was a nice read especially for someone just starting art school and begining to want to integrate into the more professional aspects of it, outside of what I know. I really like the way it is structured, as the book contains 15 chapters, and is split into 4 seasons, starting in the winter with chapter 1 "a studio visit" and ending in the fall with Chapter 15 ," storage shipping and handling". I also enjoyed the tone of voice of the author, I assume due to his academic background, he knows how to write in a way that doesn't feel demeaning for not having been aware of the certain things he talks about in the book. Only exception for that would be chapter 11 "art online" and chapter 13 auction. Art online fell flat in encompassing art online and mostly just talked about VR technology which has not stood the test of time. Auction was just boring to read because it was all money money money blah blah blah we sell this to these people at this point. Seriously considered just skipping that chapter.
Overall I'd give it 3 and a half stars. Good read that I'd recommend, but I still wish it covered more international ground. Would be interesting to see a second version of this book done during the coming years and see how much it could improve or see just how much things have changed since the first one.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

--- "US corporations were building nice offices on a national scale and wanted to acquire art to benefit their employers, as a way to show their value and create a more elevated working environment in a competitive market." (Israel: 175)
--- "ethics does not play a role in what is called foundation. I think more than ever, as we see the rise of authoritarian governments, this is something that artists need to understand and discuss and integrate into their practices" (Madoff: 136)
--- "collectors can actually be the catalyst behind curators' decisions. Their purchases and place on museum boards can influence what shows a curator decides to do, although this is a fact not often discussed." (Israel: 92)
--- "artists have to constantly be promoted, established and re-established in this world, because people forget things easily and will move quickly on to the next new, shiny thing." (Israel: 80)
--- "Great works of art often have stories that must be told about them, and telling these stories allows people to appreciate them on a deeper level." (Sheffer: 36)

This book interviews people who work in the world of contemporary art, including an artist, a gallerist or an art writer. The book shows how they work or the challenges they face.

As an art historian aficionado, I loved discovering new artists or new terminology (although I wish the author had included a glossary for terms such as 'performative autobiographical mode' or 'CAD sculpting'). Students of Fine Art can also learn from this book, although it is up to them to realise where the good advice is. Even those that are considering opening an art school or those that teach Art can get good advice from this book.

All in all the book is a good way to get an insight into the world of contemporary art. However, I still have some concerns. Firstly, the book focuses on the US for most of the time and unlike men artits, only one woman artist is discussed in great detail. Secondly, I think the book has not shown enough how dodgy contemporary art can be when it comes to art advisors and conservators. But the book shows how the world of Art is not made of just an artist and artwork, which is nice.

[Kelly P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should have delved into this book sooner. Matthew Israel always inspires me to learn more about art. He makes it accessible for amateurs like me that love art because of how it makes me feel, not because I’m talented or educated. I’ll read everything he writes, and if you’re interested in the art world, you should too.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great read if you want a more multi-faceted understanding of the contemporary art world and all its moving parts. Doesn’t delve too deeply and interviews are rather surface-level. Relatively unpretentious (except for a few of the interviewees) so it’s one of the more accessible art reads out there.

[ксюша · Rating 5 out of 5]

Invaluable book if you want to look behind the curtain of the art world. Tons of detailed insider information that is structured and interviews with professionals that have first-hand experience and impact.

[David Kintore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful insight into the many dimensions of the art world, including art fairs, studio visits, curators, biennials, auctions, etc.

The author's love for the art world even makes a chapter on the mundane topic of 'Storage, Shipping and Handling' a compelling read.

[Glo Sollecito · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is undoubtedly some good info here but it wasn’t a “fun” read like I was expecting being an artist and art lover. It was a bit textbook-ish even though the author recounted his personal experiences. I ended up skimming and ultimately bailed. Maybe it was just me.

[Pao Manzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is my bible

[Chris Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's not a great deal of depth here ... You'll get the most out of it if you know absolutely nothing about the subject ...

[Antonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a quick art world dictionary
Important for giving range, especially if you do not have a traditional art education

[I.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A valuable insight into different roles in the world of contemporary art.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straightforward overview of the art world's many working parts. The interviews feel a bit cold or distant, and although Israel does acknowledge his own background and involvement in the app Artsy, there are no complete portraits of any one person, including the author himself. For a total outsider, the breakdown of careers was helpful. An excellent starting point, but not quite the tell-all.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down to 3. Interesting overview of the general ecosystem but found it lacking for a few different reasons. In general, would have benefitted from more editing - on few different occasions, will drop random comments but not really provide enough context / background for someone unfamiliar with the space (the target demographic for this book), eg talking about decentralizing. Also on few occasions, he’ll over quote and not exposite enough.

My favorite chapters were on art advisors and the art auction house - perhaps bc I thought the people interviewed in those chapters had the most interesting things to say. There were a few chapters that suffered from not having more people to interview - artists (would have been interesting to see more than one to better understand where ideas come from), galleries (particularly the prestigious ones that seem to hold so much power in today’s ecosystem).

There was a lot of telling and not showing, especially in the curators chapter; talked about their work so theoretically and abstractly it still was hard to understand it beyond the surface level description (how do they put things together? How do they narrow it down / how do they discover / track artists?). All in all, an OK primer into the art world, but might leave you with more questions after.

[Russell Chee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating but occasionally a bit too journalistic. More judgment and evaluation rather than explanation and reportage would have been appreciated.