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A colorful and fast-moving account of how postwar London became the global center of the art market—a story of Impressionist masterpieces, dodgy dealers, and ground-breaking financial transactions.On October 15, 1958, Sotheby's of Bond Street staged an'event sale” of seven Impressionist paintings belonging to Erwin Goldschmidt: three Manets, two Cézannes, one Van Gogh, and a Renoir. Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, and Somerset Maugham were there as celebrity guests. The seven lots went for £781,000—at the time the highest price for a single sale. The event established London as the world center of the art market and Sotheby's as an international auction house. It began a shift in power from the dealers to the auctioneers and paved the way for Impressionist paintings to dominate the market for the next forty years. Sotheby's had pulled off a massive coup by capturing the Impressionist market from Paris and New York—and now began its inexorable rise, opening offices all over the world. A huge expansion of the market followed, accompanied by rocketing prices, colorful scandals, and legal dramas. London transformed itself from a fusty place of old master painting sales to a revitalized center of contemporary art, crowned by the opening of Tate Modern in 2000. The Tate Modern successfully united new (and mostly foreign) money in London with the art world, offering its patrons a ready-made sophisticated social milieu alongside dealers in contemporary art. In a vibrant and briskly-paced style, James Stourton tells the story of the London art market from the immediate postwar period to the turn of the millennium. While Sotheby's is the lynchpin of this story, Stourton populates his narrative with a glorious rogue's gallery of eccentric scholars, clever amateurs, brilliant emigrés, and stylish grandees with a flair for the deal.

The Times'Best Art Books of the Year, 2024'A riot of a book'– Country Life's Books of the Year, 2024The modern art market was born on a single night. On 15 October 1958 Sotheby's of Bond Street staged an'event sale'of Impressionist paintings from the collection of an American banker, Erwin Goldschmidt: three Manets, two Cézannes, one Van Gogh and a Renoir. Movie stars and other celebrities attended in black tie and saw the seven lots go for £781,000 – at the time the highest price for a single art sale. Overnight, London became the world centre of the art market and Sotheby's an international auction house. The event signalled a shift in power from dealers to auctioneers and pointed the way for Impressionist paintings to dominate the market for the next forty years. In this climate Sotheby's and Christie's became a great business duopoly – as aggressive, dominant and competitive in the field of art sales as Pepsi and Coca-Cola were in soft drinks. The resulting expansion of the market was accompanied by rocketing prices, colourful scandals and legal dramas. Over the decades, London transformed itself from a place of old master sales to a revitalised centre of contemporary art, a process crowned by the opening of Tate Modern in 2000. James Stourton tells the story of the London art market from the immediate postwar period to the turn of the millennium in engaging and fast-paced style, populating his richly entertaining narrative with a glorious rogues'gallery of clever amateurs, eccentric scholars, brilliant emigrés, cockney traders and grandees with a flair for the deal.

Written by an art advisor and former gallerist with an insider's perspective, this book provides a timely overview of the commercial-gallery sector at a moment of rapid change and expansion. More than any participant in the art market, galleries are seen as mysterious actors with an opaque code of conduct. This book offers a fascinating view of the gallery ecosystem, presenting a systematic diagnosis of key challenges and opportunities facing the sector today.Henry Little discusses the integration of bricks and clicks, addressing the tension between a gallery's physical premises and its online presence, further asking how the world's largest galleries have pulled so far ahead both in terms of their physical expansion and their digital offering. In an industry which increasingly rewards consolidation and brand recognition, the book asks how small and mid-tier galleries can hold their own and whether the traditional gallery model may be under threat in an increasingly digital future.

Thirty-four essays and interviews with some of the greatest individuals, malcontents and free thinkers of the last 150 years - including Louise Brooks, Richard Pryor, David Bowie, Liam Gallagher and Daniel Day-Lewis - this is a collection that exonerates the maverick and celebrates the individual. It is an essential read for the left of field.

This highly readable and timely book explores the transformation of the modern and contemporary art market in the 21st century from a niche trade to a globalised operation worth an estimated $50 billion a year. Drawing on her personal experience, the author describes in fascinating detail the contributions made by a range of actors and institutions to these recent developments. The author's engaging style makes this informative text ideal for collectors, students, and anyone interested in learning more about the evolution of the unprecedented market for art which exists today.

In 2002, as an alternative means of therapy to excessive drinking and jay-walking in South London traffic, I started writing. At first I kept a journal, noting daily observations and recording a satirical account of my wry and positively cynical views of society and my place within it. A year and two very short stories later, I had discovered my passion for words and particularly poetry. Poems, after all, in my humble opinion, are even shorter short stories… and I'm quite lazy.My priority has always been to make my writing simple and accessible whilst I lightheartedly describe my experiences of living with Crohn's disease and the endless battles I have with myself as I drift in and out of minimum wage jobs and hospital.As much on page as on stage, my appeal tends to be to a broader audience, including those who may not consider themselves poetically inclined. Flailing around in the pits of illiteracy, I make up my own words and often misspell or poorly punctuate those that are already in existence. But, with the clichéd excuse of'poetic license', I continue to scrawl.