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Seven Days In The Art World (2009)

by Sarah Thornton(Favorite Author)

3.54 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

039333712X (ISBN13: 9780393337129)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

review 1: Welcome to the world of art! I know nothing to very little about art, particularly modern art. I came across Ms. Thornton's name and thought her writing would be good, and I was not wrong. She is a lovely writer, synchronizing days/months of research and interviews and putting the reader into the world she is describing. As with other journalistic books, I did find some of the pace a little tiresome at times, but, overall, it wasn't much of an issue. And for all that I learned, this is hardly a valid complaint. The opening chapters grab you and pull you in. Using the structure of a day spent in an aspect of the art world, Thorton moves through the auction houses, the art festivals, and even a day with the famous pop artist Takashi Murakami. I enjoyed the auction house and ... morethe Murakami chapters the most. I am a Murakami fan, and I was gratified to learn more about him, that he lives fairly simple, his attention to detail, and his community approach to artwork (such as having all the assisting artists sign the work, a rarity apparently). I was particularly surprised to find out that artists, including Murakami, rarely complete the work themselves. They have a phalanx of support staff artists helping them, all of whom hope to strike out on their own that day. I was also very shocked to find out that pricing for modern art, and even many classic, historic pieces of art, are not based on any type of realistic understandings. Pricing (and bidding on art) seems to be the most irrational, unrealistic metric on Earth. Having read this book, I am hesitant to buy any art for a sum greater than a few hundred dollars and certainly not for anything else other than my own our enjoyment of the art. There are literally bidding wars that make no sense, hyped up by dealers and sometimes artists themselves AND the collectors who are trying to drive up the value of their own collections! It's like a smaller, trickier, more complicated version of the stock market! Murakami is an otherwise an ethical and honest artist who lives his values, but one of his great innovation has been to catalog his artwork carefully so that it can be re-created by simply following the steps. He's like the Apple of the art world -- great product, vision (both commercially, design-wise, ethically), environmentally aware, wanting to change the world but also make money doing so and seeing their product and output in terms of dollars. Not that he does it that often, but, to some degree, if Murakami wanted to re-create one of his multi-million dollar paintings or sculptures, he needs only to tell his staff to look up the file, and they can simply re-do it. Ms. Thornton has done a great job!
review 2: i really enjoyed this look at the art world -- as an outsider, I think Sarah Thornton did a good job straddling the line between introducing an often impenetrable world to newer enthusiasts and interviews with those who are enmeshed in the fabric of the art world. I particularly enjoyed the chapter with Takeshi Murakami which was just a super fascinating look into the way he produces art and the very Japanese culture in which he does so. less

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