Status
Available
Collection
Publication
New York : St. Martin's Press, 2016.
Description
"Just as William Goldman, the ultimate screenwriter, took us inside Hollywood, Simon de Pury, the ultimate art player, will take us inside an even more secretive business, whose staggering prices, famous collectors, and high crimes are front page news almost every day. The former Chairman of Sotheby's Europe, the former owner of Sotheby's rival Phillips de Pury, and currently a London-based dealer and advisor to great collectors around the world, Simon has one of the highest profiles of any non-artist in the art world. Even though he has an ancient title and the aura of an elegant Swiss banker, Simon is famous as an iconoclast and is known as "The Mick Jagger of Auctions" for his showmanship and exuberance. His whole life in art has been devoted to bringing art to the public and to the juxtaposition of high and low. Movie stars, musicians, and athletes compete with hedge funders and billionaires for the great art, and Simon is their pied piper; he wants to turn the world to art and this book will be his message"--… (more)
Media reviews
In this eye-opening memoir, de Pury, a distinguished auctioneer and art dealer, provides a lively account of his flashy career and today’s soaring art market, revealing a jet-setting , powerful, and private club of elites who buy, sell, and collect the world’s most expensive art.
User reviews
LibraryThing member brendajanefrank
Art World Gossip
I had thought that “The Auctioneer” would be about art auctions, the buying and selling of art, how auctions are conducted, how auctioneers do it. It’s not. De Pury wrote more of a National Enquirer style book, - stories of the rich and famous who collect, buy and sell art. It
I had thought that “The Auctioneer” would be about art auctions, the buying and selling of art, how auctions are conducted, how auctioneers do it. It’s not. De Pury wrote more of a National Enquirer style book, - stories of the rich and famous who collect, buy and sell art. It
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details who sleeps with who, how they got their money, their sexual choices, divorces and marriages, where they summer, styles of dress, etc. This is great if that interests or impresses you. The names mean nothing to me. How rich people live and where they got their money does not interest me. In short, this book does not interest me. Show Less
LibraryThing member doomjesse
I received this book as an audiobook Early Reviewer copy.
This is a fascinating look behind the scenes of the art market. As the author was an auctioneer at some of the biggest sales in recent years and attempted competitor to the duopoly of Sotheby's and Christie's, he definitely has the inside
This is a fascinating look behind the scenes of the art market. As the author was an auctioneer at some of the biggest sales in recent years and attempted competitor to the duopoly of Sotheby's and Christie's, he definitely has the inside
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scoop on the art trade. He focuses on Modern and Contemporary art and all the big names seemed to have passed through his hands. This book is as much about the rest of the story though, the behind the scenes deals, rivalry, and basically art world gossip. Show Less
LibraryThing member Laffrey
When my copy of The Auctioneer arrived, I was quite surprised: I somehow missed the fact that it was an audiobook. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though. I'm a fan of memoirs, but I don't have much knowledge about the art world. In certain sections, I might have been tempted to skip
DePury's fishy tour of the world of art collecting was as much fun as any star-filled, Hollywood bio. Even though I wasn't familiar withy he players beforehand, he gives enough background for even a novice to understand who's who and what part each "character" plays.
My one quibble is the narrator. Though the story was often interesting enough to transcend his annoying reading style, during slower sections, it grated. His habit of putting on accents to differentiate between characters, was especially obnoxious.
So, but the book and don't skip pages! Skip Ralph Listers narration, though!
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around in a hard copy. I'm glad I couldn't!DePury's fishy tour of the world of art collecting was as much fun as any star-filled, Hollywood bio. Even though I wasn't familiar withy he players beforehand, he gives enough background for even a novice to understand who's who and what part each "character" plays.
My one quibble is the narrator. Though the story was often interesting enough to transcend his annoying reading style, during slower sections, it grated. His habit of putting on accents to differentiate between characters, was especially obnoxious.
So, but the book and don't skip pages! Skip Ralph Listers narration, though!
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LibraryThing member bemislibrary
This review is for the unabridged 9 ½-hour Audio CD book. Ralph Lister did an excellent job of reading this work by de Pury and Stadiem. The sound quality was clear and consistent throughout the eight compact disks that tells the story of De Pury’s life in the art auction business. Many equate
The quality of the audiobook rates a four, but the book content is average and only rates a three.
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auction house Sotheby’s with the rich and famous. This idea is supported by de Pury time working there before starting his own auction house. There is a lot of money to be exchanged and he found a way to increase his share. Unfortunately, the tale contains general review of how he arrived at owning an auction house and the famous people he interacted with than what make an auction house successful. It would have been interest to learn how they are able to obtain high prices for some art pieces and not others.The quality of the audiobook rates a four, but the book content is average and only rates a three.
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LibraryThing member acvickers
I can't say I enjoyed this work in the slightest. I expected more about art and less name-dropping. The author simply seems to want to impress the reader/show the reader the big names he has "rubbed elbows with" so to speak. It's tacky. So much talk about the rich and the origins of their money and
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so much less about art that it should have been. Big time miss. Show Less
LibraryThing member enemyanniemae
I am sorry to say that I really did not care for this audiobook. I thought that the subject would be really interesting- it was anything but. It seemed to be a mishmash of stories with no real point. There was a tremendous amount of name-dropping done. Unfortunately, I recognized very few of them.
Would not recommend, I am afraid. But thanks to LT Early Reviewers Program for the chance to dislike it first. (they can't all be winners)
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The author alternately bragged and put on his humble suit. It was tiring and not terribly interesting. Making the audiobook more unpleasant was the narrator. He read rather emphatically and that was tiring as well. I also did not like hearing Van Gogh referred to as Van Goff. Several of the narrator's pronunciations were annoying. Would not recommend, I am afraid. But thanks to LT Early Reviewers Program for the chance to dislike it first. (they can't all be winners)
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LibraryThing member DabOfDarkness
This autobiography takes the reader into the world of the rich and famous, of high-priced art, and into Simon de Pury’s private life. Art attracts an eclectic crowd; therefore, de Pury has plenty of tales of famous folk from several walks of life.
The book starts off with a lot of name dropping.
Eventually, we get some interesting stories about people in de Pury’s life. For instance, he was dating a super model for several months and she was known as a portrait artist as well, specializing in nude portraits of herself. Yep. You read that right. The whole segment was rather amusing. Later in the book, we learn that she is not alone at all in her need to paint her own nude portrait. I was quite surprised that it wasn’t that uncommon.
Perhaps at the half way mark, the book reveals more about the author, taking us through his life from his school days, his college education, his first jobs and his first marriage, and on through to his divorce, dating, and then second wife. Bits and pieces of this I found interesting. He does spend some quality time talking about the first private collector he curated and collected for. He did a good job of portraying the man’s mood swings without making him sound like a jerk.
Still, I kept waiting to hear more about the art. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Various famous works and artists are mentioned throughout but little is discussed on the history of the pieces or on the lives of the artists. Really, this book is quite flashy and lacks depth all around.
I couldn’t tell if the author was doing some tongue in cheek with us readers or not. He talks about various people being humble or of a quiet nature and then tells a little story that shows the opposite aspect. Indeed, he does this with himself where he casually mentions that he just happens to be a baron, but that’s something he generally keeps in the closet instead of flashing it around. Ha! After a while, I just learned to laugh at these things.
Several times, de Pury talks about how hard life could be for those in his circle, including himself. However, I do believe we’re talking about the bottom two-tenths of the top 1% of the world’s financially gifted. I did find it hard to sympathize with these stories. Often, they only made the author sound like a wealthy elitist. On the other hand, it’s a rather interesting look into what the top 1% consider a travesty or a hardship.
Over all, the book was rather boring for me. So many of the people mentioned I didn’t recognize and the majority of them are come and gone from the story like a flash in a pan. The large amount of name dropping didn’t add substance to the book. I wanted more art and less flash and that never happened. I definitely felt the author was holding back from telling the reader his direct thoughts on the matter for the entirety of the book.
I received a copy at no cost from the publisher (via LibraryThing) in exchange for an honest review.
The Narration: Ralph Lister did a really good job with this book. He had a steady upper crust European voice for the entirety of the book. I really liked his expressive nature as I could just picture the author being excited or crushed or frustrated, depending on circumstances. Occasionally, he was required to do some accents and he did them well.
The book starts off with a lot of name dropping.
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It tapers off a bit in the second disc and a story eventually arises. However, the name dropping, usually with little to no context, continues throughout the book. I don’t follow the tabloids. I don’t read up on celebrities. So much of this book was lost to me. I recognized perhaps a tenth of the names mentioned in this book. This alone made the book rather boring for me. Sometimes it read like a catalog list of famous people the author knows, just one name after another after another after another.Eventually, we get some interesting stories about people in de Pury’s life. For instance, he was dating a super model for several months and she was known as a portrait artist as well, specializing in nude portraits of herself. Yep. You read that right. The whole segment was rather amusing. Later in the book, we learn that she is not alone at all in her need to paint her own nude portrait. I was quite surprised that it wasn’t that uncommon.
Perhaps at the half way mark, the book reveals more about the author, taking us through his life from his school days, his college education, his first jobs and his first marriage, and on through to his divorce, dating, and then second wife. Bits and pieces of this I found interesting. He does spend some quality time talking about the first private collector he curated and collected for. He did a good job of portraying the man’s mood swings without making him sound like a jerk.
Still, I kept waiting to hear more about the art. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Various famous works and artists are mentioned throughout but little is discussed on the history of the pieces or on the lives of the artists. Really, this book is quite flashy and lacks depth all around.
I couldn’t tell if the author was doing some tongue in cheek with us readers or not. He talks about various people being humble or of a quiet nature and then tells a little story that shows the opposite aspect. Indeed, he does this with himself where he casually mentions that he just happens to be a baron, but that’s something he generally keeps in the closet instead of flashing it around. Ha! After a while, I just learned to laugh at these things.
Several times, de Pury talks about how hard life could be for those in his circle, including himself. However, I do believe we’re talking about the bottom two-tenths of the top 1% of the world’s financially gifted. I did find it hard to sympathize with these stories. Often, they only made the author sound like a wealthy elitist. On the other hand, it’s a rather interesting look into what the top 1% consider a travesty or a hardship.
Over all, the book was rather boring for me. So many of the people mentioned I didn’t recognize and the majority of them are come and gone from the story like a flash in a pan. The large amount of name dropping didn’t add substance to the book. I wanted more art and less flash and that never happened. I definitely felt the author was holding back from telling the reader his direct thoughts on the matter for the entirety of the book.
I received a copy at no cost from the publisher (via LibraryThing) in exchange for an honest review.
The Narration: Ralph Lister did a really good job with this book. He had a steady upper crust European voice for the entirety of the book. I really liked his expressive nature as I could just picture the author being excited or crushed or frustrated, depending on circumstances. Occasionally, he was required to do some accents and he did them well.
Show Less