From Manet to Manhattan: The Rise of the Modern Art Market [Hardcover]

Peter Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1992

A behind-the-scenes look at the world's art market reveals the art connoisseurs, collectors, artists, dealers, and auction houses that have shaped tastes in art and created record-breaking sales for art masterpieces. 25,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Watson's colorful, anecdotal history of the development of the modern art market opens with his behind-the-scenes account of the 1990 Christie's auction that saw the sale of a van Gogh portrait for a record $82.5 million. His theme--that auctioneers and dealers have shaped the art market as arbiters of public taste--receives sporadic support, as in his account of the New York Armory Show of 1913 or a discussion of dealer Siegfried Bing, "godfather of Art Nouveau." Art critic for the London Observer and the Spectator, Watson entertainingly covers art scandals, big deals and changing fashions, profiling such dealers as Ambroise Vollard, Daniel Wildenstein and the notorious Joseph Duvenn as well as collectors such as Gertrude Stein, Isabella Stewart Gardner and Louisine Havemeyer. He airs the fierce current rivalry between Sotheby's and Christie's and suggests that much of the recent art boom was artifically generated, involving shady purchases by Japanese buyers who used art to launder money for Japan's political parties, corporations and organized crime. Illustrations not seen by PW. First serial to Vanity Fair; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

With a wily sense of humor and a keen eye for detail, Watson, a British journalist and the author of nine books, has created "the first integrated account of the development of the modern art market." Beginning his narrative with an intimate backstage view of the extraordinary $75 million sale of Van Gogh's "Dr. Gachet" in 1990, he relates a masterful historical journey through the evolution of auctioneering, from "licensed swindling" to "the great spectator sport of our day." Among the myriad influences that have shaped the current art market are an international host of colorful characters, fluctuating economic conditions, and changing tastes, all of which Watson relays with the same "refinement and polish" he used in his mystery novel Landscape of Lies ( LJ 1/90) to bring the reader to an understanding of today's art market. Recommended for libraries with a strong interest in the arts and for the would-be art investor. (Illustrations not seen.)-- Vicki Gadberry, Harris Media Ctr., Mars Hill Coll., N.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 558 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (November 17, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679404724
• ISBN-13: 978-0679404729
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.9 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,830 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I cannot believe I am the first, May 30, 2010

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R. Heiderer (boulder) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: From Manet to Manhattan: The Rise of the Modern Art Market (Hardcover)

There are two kinds of good books. The first are those that are so good that everyone recommends them to their friends and they become popular. The second are those that are so good that people may actually want to keep it a secret. This may be the second kind. I cannot understand why I am the first to write a review. This book offers itself as a history not about art but about the art market. At times one gets lost in the flurry of names, dates, and prices, but it is all here. And as a hidden bonus it says nearly everything that is worth saying about both the economics and the psychology of collecting. This is a brilliant book that should by now have shaped the course of writing art history. Of course, it hasn't.

My only criticism for the current reader is that it was written in 1992 soon after the art market exploded (not the author's fault) and desperately needs an update. This is like saying Vasari needs an update. Sadly I do know of anyone currently active with the experience to write such a book.

Peter Watson himself is an extraordinary combination of talents. He is also the author of two other excellent books on intellectual history. I think this would put him in a unique position to write a defining work on the aesthetics of Modern Art particularly since so much of contemporary art is involved with ideas. Watson has written, "I believe that a whole book needs to be written about the aesthetics in the wake of Pop Art: its significance has not yet been fully digested or understood." (pg. 470) I would only beg that it might also include his views on minimalism and conceptual art and whatever the hell is going on now. Other than perhaps Robert Hughes, Watson may be the only person capable of completing such a project. Of course, I fear there may be many out there who would prevent him from doing so. He's that good.