Art Auctions

Art Auctions

Spectacle and Value in the 21st Century

By Kathryn Brown

£19.99

Publication Date: 27th June 2024

  • Explores the changing ambitions and activities of auction houses, shedding new light on the power structures of global art commerce

This accessible new book offers a fresh view of art auctions, exploring their multifaceted role in today’s international art market and their transformation into spectacular theatres of the contemporary art world. From glittering black-tie events to the anonymity of the digital realm, auctions stage the creation of value and can make or break artists’ careers. They are a strange phenomenon: relics from the 18th century which remain at the heart of the art market.

And yet art auctions have undergone huge change in the past decades, adapting to online formats, encroaching on territory ... Read More

Formats
Hardcover
1167 in stock
  • Explores the changing ambitions and activities of auction houses, shedding new light on the power structures of global art commerce

This accessible new book offers a fresh view of art auctions, exploring their multifaceted role in today’s international art market and their transformation into spectacular theatres of the contemporary art world. From glittering black-tie events to the anonymity of the digital realm, auctions stage the creation of value and can make or break artists’ careers. They are a strange phenomenon: relics from the 18th century which remain at the heart of the art market.

And yet art auctions have undergone huge change in the past decades, adapting to online formats, encroaching on territory ... Read More
Description

This accessible new book offers a fresh view of art auctions, exploring their multifaceted role in today’s international art market and their transformation into spectacular theatres of the contemporary art world. From glittering black-tie events to the anonymity of the digital realm, auctions stage the creation of value and can make or break artists’ careers. They are a strange phenomenon: relics from the 18th century which remain at the heart of the art market.

And yet art auctions have undergone huge change in the past decades, adapting to online formats, encroaching on territory which was once the preserve of galleries, and expanding ruthlessly into new regions and categories. Kathryn Brown's incisive new survey assesses the ongoing relevance of auctions to contemporary art markets and discusses the opportunities, controversies and conflicts of value to which they give rise.

Details
  • Pages: 104
  • Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
  • Co-Publisher: Sotheby's Institute of Art
  • Series: Hot Topics in the Art World
  • Publication Date: 27th June 2024
  • Trim Size: 13 x 20 cm
  • ISBN: 9781848226388
Reviews

'Transparency is the art market's perpetual theme and readers of this text will realise that the seemingly transparent world of art auctions hinges nearly as much on veils of theatricality as other provinces of the trade. Kathryn Brown’s engrossing, elegantly written text on 21st-century auctions is a revealing enquiry into the manner in which all participants – auctioneers, artists, collectors, dealers, the media – collaborate in the making of fascination or, as she aptly puts it, the "creation of legend".' - Dr Johannes Nathan, Founding Chair of the International Art Market Studies Association and Editor-in-Chief of 'Bloomsbury Art Markets'

'This well-researched book deftly summarizes how art, design, fashion and technology inform the many approaches auction houses embrace to promote art. Brown’s readers will doubtless come away with a deeper understanding of the modus operandi of auction houses as well as some of the ethical questions they grapple with today.' – Inge Reist, Director Emerita of the Center for the History of Collecting, The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library

'Academic and erudite, Kathryn Brown's detailed assessment of the auction landscape insightfully analyses key issues facing the sector today.' - Philip Hoffman, CEO and Founder, The Fine Art Group

Author Bio

Kathryn Brown is Reader in Art Histories, Markets and Digital Heritage at Loughborough University. Her publications include Dialogues with Degas: Influence and Antagonism in Contemporary Art, Matisse's Poets: Critical Performance in the Artist's Book, and Women Readers in French Painting 1870–1890.

Table of Contents

Foreword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 Auction as Spectacle; 2 Expanding Markets; 3 Creating Value; 4 Exhibition Cultures and Spaces; 5 Ethics and Deregulation; Conclusion; Notes; Further Reading; Index

This accessible new book offers a fresh view of art auctions, exploring their multifaceted role in today’s international art market and their transformation into spectacular theatres of the contemporary art world. From glittering black-tie events to the anonymity of the digital realm, auctions stage the creation of value and can make or break artists’ careers. They are a strange phenomenon: relics from the 18th century which remain at the heart of the art market.

And yet art auctions have undergone huge change in the past decades, adapting to online formats, encroaching on territory which was once the preserve of galleries, and expanding ruthlessly into new regions and categories. Kathryn Brown's incisive new survey assesses the ongoing relevance of auctions to contemporary art markets and discusses the opportunities, controversies and conflicts of value to which they give rise.

  • Pages: 104
  • Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
  • Co-Publisher: Sotheby's Institute of Art
  • Series: Hot Topics in the Art World
  • Publication Date: 27th June 2024
  • Trim Size: 13 x 20 cm
  • ISBN: 9781848226388

'Transparency is the art market's perpetual theme and readers of this text will realise that the seemingly transparent world of art auctions hinges nearly as much on veils of theatricality as other provinces of the trade. Kathryn Brown’s engrossing, elegantly written text on 21st-century auctions is a revealing enquiry into the manner in which all participants – auctioneers, artists, collectors, dealers, the media – collaborate in the making of fascination or, as she aptly puts it, the "creation of legend".' - Dr Johannes Nathan, Founding Chair of the International Art Market Studies Association and Editor-in-Chief of 'Bloomsbury Art Markets'

'This well-researched book deftly summarizes how art, design, fashion and technology inform the many approaches auction houses embrace to promote art. Brown’s readers will doubtless come away with a deeper understanding of the modus operandi of auction houses as well as some of the ethical questions they grapple with today.' – Inge Reist, Director Emerita of the Center for the History of Collecting, The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library

'Academic and erudite, Kathryn Brown's detailed assessment of the auction landscape insightfully analyses key issues facing the sector today.' - Philip Hoffman, CEO and Founder, The Fine Art Group

Kathryn Brown is Reader in Art Histories, Markets and Digital Heritage at Loughborough University. Her publications include Dialogues with Degas: Influence and Antagonism in Contemporary Art, Matisse's Poets: Critical Performance in the Artist's Book, and Women Readers in French Painting 1870–1890.

Foreword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 Auction as Spectacle; 2 Expanding Markets; 3 Creating Value; 4 Exhibition Cultures and Spaces; 5 Ethics and Deregulation; Conclusion; Notes; Further Reading; Index

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