Breakfast at Sotheby's : An A-Z of the art world

by Philip Hook

Hardcover, 2013

Status

Available

Tags

Publication

London ; New York : Particular Books, 2013.

Description

An experienced international art dealer describes how paintings and other works of art are each given a financial value, based on the artist, their movement or "-isms", what their life has been like, previous works, style, subject, "wall power" and provenance--Publisher's description.

User reviews

LibraryThing member jon1lambert
Philip Hook's Breakfast at Sotheby's is a quick and enjoyable read. 'Perhaps most of us are train-spotters at heart' (page 182) wasn't a sentence I would expect to read within it. But there it is in the section explaining why some art collectors buy railway paintings. Hook even suggests that
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railways changed the way people painted, for instance a quick day return may have encouraged a speedy Impressionist approach. I now know that anger doesn't sell as well as angst. Smiles are popular but if there is no smile existentialist turmoil may do. Suicide lifts prices, for example. I wasn't aware of the suggestion that Van Gogh was shot by a man out shooting rabbits and did not kill himself. The rabbit ending would have seriously diminished the value of Van Gogh's paintings as well as his fame and reputation.
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LibraryThing member PattyLee
Interesting and entertaining info on the business of art from a real insider. Aside from being an excellent writer, Hook is pretty funny and self-deprecating, in true Brit fashion. My only issue with both of Hook’s books is the lack of quality color plates. Of course, the reason is the cost of
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these plates, but it took me longer to read because I had to keep referring to my laptop! Nonetheless, if the topic is interesting to you- highly recommended.
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