Eugene Schwartz, Confessions of a Poor Collector, 1970.
Eugene Schwartz is an art collector who made his living writing, so reading this book will definitely be fascinating. The author states: "Collecting is the only socially commendable form of greed".
Marta Gnyp, The Shift: Art And The Rise To Power Of Contemporary Collectors, 2015.
Here, the motives and behaviour of internationally operating collectors are analysed, disclosing the unwritten rules, active networks, and persistent myths of the rapidly growing field of art collecting. Based on the PhD research of Dutch art historian Marta Gnyp, it provides a wealth of information, theories, and empirical research.
Moscow collectors. Shchukin, Morozov, Ostroukhov. Three destinies, three stories by Natalia Semenova.
We owe the happiness of seeing the world's best paintings by French Impressionists, as well as Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso to two Muscovites: a daring innovator who wasn’t afraid to shock the Moscow public, merciless businessman Sergey Shchukin, and millionaire Ivan Morozov, who was called "the Russian who does not bargain" in Paris. The third hero, Ilya Ostroukhov, was an artist by profession, but by vocation he was a collector and museum builder.
The Art Collector's Handbook: A Guide to Collection Management and Care. Mary Rozell.
Its perfect reader is someone who has already realised their unsystematic collection of works of art as a collection and sees the goal not only in learning how to manage and properly take care of the belonging to him pieces of art but also to understand the basic principles and laws by which the global art market exists.
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art. Don Thompson.
The author is a Harvard professor, a well-known economist and art connoisseur. In this book he talks about all the components of the world of contemporary art in details: dealers, auction houses, galleries, collectors, art brands and artists-beginners. Thompson gives scandalous details and reveals to the reader the shocking truth about the market mechanisms of the art business.
This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices. Drawing on interviews with past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know.
I Sold Andy Warhol (Too Soon): A Memoir. Richard Polsky.
In early 2005, Richard Polsky decided to put his much-loved, hard-won Warhol Fright Wig, up for auction at Christie's. The market for contemporary art was robust and he was hoping to turn a profit. Seemed like his instincts archived the goal: the painting was sold for $375K. But if only Polsky had waited… Over the next two years, prices soared to unimaginable s with multimillion-dollar deals that became the norm and not the exception.
