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Book Cover
Book
Author Thompson, Donald N.

Title The $12 million stuffed shark : the curious economics of contemporary art / Don Thompson
Edition First Palgrave Macmillan edition
Published New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'BOOL  709.04 Tho/Tms  AVAILABLE
 MELB  709.04 Tho/Tms  AVAILABLE
Description 268 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm
Contents Green and wrinkled and twelve million -- Branding and insecurity -- Branded auctions -- Branded dealers -- The art of the dealer -- Art and artists -- Damien Hirst and the shark -- Warhol, Koons and Emin -- Charles Saatchi: Branded collector -- Christie's and Sotheby's -- Choosing an auction hammer -- Auction psychology -- The secret world of auctions -- Francis Bacon's perfect portrait -- Auction houses versus dealers -- Art fairs: The final frontier -- Art and money -- Pricing contemporary art -- Fakes -- Art critics -- Museums -- End game -- Contemporary art as an investment
Summary "Why would a very smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock's drip painting No. 5, 1948 sell for $140 million? And why does a leather jacket with silver chain attached, tossed in a corner and titled 'No-One Ever Leaves', bring $690,000 at a 2007 Sotheby's auction?"
"This intriguing and entertaining book is the first to look at the economics of the modern art world and the marketing strategies which power the market to produce such astronomical prices for the latest Hirst, Koons or Emin. Don Thompson talks to auction houses, dealers and collectors, and reveals the psychology behind the art market, showing how far it is driven by lust and self-aggrandizement of possession. It is a world, the author shows, in which brand is all-important, and which in many ways has most in common with the branded world of luxury fashion. The result is a fascinating, shrewd and highly readable insight into a modern-day phenomenon. In contemporary art, you are nobody until somebody brands you."--BOOK JACKET
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [255]-260) and index
Subject Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Economic aspects.
Art, Modern -- 21st century -- Economic aspects.
Art -- Marketing -- History -- 20th century.
Art -- Marketing -- History -- 21st century.
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Psychology.
LC no. 2008017980
ISBN 0230610226
9780230610224
Other Titles Twelve million dollar stuffed shark