Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in a Global Financial Market

by Noah Horowitz

Art today is defined by its relationship to money as never before. Prices of living artists' works have been driven to unprecedented heights, conventional boundaries within the art world have collapsed, and artists now think ever more strategically about how to advance their careers. Artists no longer simply make art, but package, sell, and brand it.


Noah Horowitz exposes the inner workings of the contemporary art market, explaining how this unique economy came to be, how it works, and where it's headed. He takes a unique look at the globalization of the art world and the changing face of the business, offering the clearest analysis yet of how investors speculate in the market and how emerging art forms such as video and installation have been drawn into the commercial sphere.


By carefully examining these developments against the backdrop of the deflation of the contemporary art bubble in 2008, Art of the Deal is a must-read book that demystifies collecting and investing in today's art market.

Genres: Art, Sociology, History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 3, 2011

Reviews

[Kelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have ever taken a contemporary art history course then you don't need to read this book. Based just on the title and cover photo (I know, I know) I had assumed it would be about the "ins and outs" of buying and selling art. Instead, it is more of a "catching you up" primer for Baby Boomers who somehow missed the rise of video art during the 1970s-1990s.

[Julio César · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very interesting account of some oft-overlooked aspect of the contemporary art market. His analysis of the marketing of video art and experiential art are thought-provoking and incisive. I was kind of bored during the long chapter on art investment funds, a fad of the pre-subprime crisis era of the early aughts that -the author recognizes it in the Postscript- may have become just another chapter of this market's history. The Postscript is a little bit self-centered, too.

[H. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Written like a bad dissertation. Or like that Calvin & Hobbes strip wherein Calvin's approach to academia is making writing "an intimidating and impenetrable fog" with his essay entitled "The Dynamics of Interbeing & Monological Imperatives in Dick & Jane: A Study in Psychic Transrelational Gender Modes."

So boring. Obviously I could not get through it.

[Krista Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

The audible narrator is difficult to listen to. The book reads like a dissertation with solid bits of both economics and cultural studies. There are many references to Bourdieau. If you like cultural studies, it is a good read. If you are looking for art history, it will disappoint you.

[Johnathon Yeo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appreciate the insight into Art funds, Video and Experiential Art. It is a fact of life in the 21st century that commerce is an integral part of every society, and artists need money in order to survive. Understanding the relationship between commerce and art is therefore helpful to those who are aspiring to be more involve in art in any form.

I was expecting a little more about financial modeling but the book covered little on this topic. This is my key disappointment.

[Kat McKay]

Unless you've swallowed the websters dictionary AND thesaurus, this book is not for you. Eg., "marketization" and "aestheticized" just to site a couple. What I thought was going to be an inside look, turned out to be more of an art economics text. When the introduction explaining the book is 25 pages long, you know it's got to be dry. If you're going to read it, do it with a gallon of water!