Customer Reviews

True Colors: The Real Life of the Art World

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the first book that ties together the art movements from the last three decades with the happenings in the art market, which in turn shaped part of the movements. Anthony Haden-Guest was and is part of this world himself, so you're getting a first person account, not merely a list of events accumulated by a researcher. Haden-Guest very nicely places all the major happenings and people in a row and relates them to eachother. Entertainingly written too! Even if you already know all about who was who in the artworld, this is still a fun read.

An engaging overview of the N.Y. art scene. Especially nice is how Haden-Guest uses gossip and fact to give an entertaining explanation to the rise of such 80s figures as Jeff Koons. I especially enjoyed his chapter on Donald Judd and other chapters on early Conceptualists and how that genre has morped over the past 3 decades. These are not hard core critical essays! But that is not what I was looking for. Recommended to the casual art fan like myself.

Trashy & obsequious. A gossipy journal of obliquely connected anecdotes about characters from the 80s and 90s art world, most of whom have lost most of their importance, and some of whom are even dead now. Begins with a section on the 70s minimalists and conceptualists, etc., by way of introduction. . . Not lacking in intelligence, but not employing much of it either. Haden-Guest places himself more strategically in the narrative than he most likely was in reality, but what journalist doesen't? Don't expect anything memorable or important (except perhaps the section on Donald Judd's various amusing feuds with native Texans and his rich European benefactors). I suppose it makes for good beach reading for those with a taste for the lurid. Be advised that it's also hopelessly dated (not documenting anything after the mid-nineties), which puts it in a strange position: it offers little information of historical significance, yet in the terms of the world it documents is now filled with ancient history! In short, an ephemeral amusement.

This is a book to inhale and savor, evocative of the 70s-80s-90s Art World Times, full of insight and things-around-the-corner. Gives good background understanding to the subsequent Wasteland in the art scene, and more recent developments.

Yet another well written and highly informative book, essential reading for artists who are serious about understanding the market their trying to reach, the art dealers and galleries.
This book is a leadin to other written material available.
Dan
andre-studio.com

This book is mainly about art and artists in the 1990s such as Julian Schnabel,Damien Hirst, etc. Those days are over and we're into a new era of art stars. Are they any better? Who's to judge, but they are different. Also the author of this book is British and so slants his perspective in that direction.

What it's about -- The world of contemporary art in New York, NY,
including the artists, their work, the dealers, the galleries, and
a bit about who is buying it.

The (sub-)movements in the contemporary art movement are mentioned,
and you will learn something about a few of them. But, for a more
complete picture, visit the "Contemporary Art" page at Wikipedia
([...]) and look for the
table of sub-movements.

Some of the characters and the "works of art" that they've produced
are outlandish. I put "works of art" in quotes, because you will
need a very loose definition of "works of art" if you want to cover
some of these objects. In fact, you might need something as broad
and inclusive as "whatever is produced by someone who calls
him/herself an artist and calls what they've done 'art'". Or, an
alternative definition that might be broad enough to include the
works discussed could be "it's art if it's sold in an art gallery
and has a frame around it (or is marked off in some other way)".
And, if fact, some of the "works" are not objects at all; they
were, for example, performances. Others were objects, but were
intentionally designed to be un-sale-able, perhaps by being
impermanent.

For most of the works discussed the idea is much more significant
than the handiwork and craftsmanship required to produce it.

But, then, for me, that is part of the value of this book: it
encourages me to think about what qualifies as art and about what
is valuable in art. With respect to the contemporary art discussed
by Haden-Guest, the qualities that make this art valuable genuinely
are questionable. It certainly isn't beauty. And, it's seldom
that it is socially meaningful, or meaningful in any reasonable
way. In fact, from this book you'd conclude that the primary value
of the art in the contemporary art world is it's value in terms of
money at an auction, its exchange value in a gallery, or even it's
use as a holder of value among those in the art theft underworld.
There is more than monetary value, but, I'm a bit mystified what it
is.

Some other topics from the book:

* The art market -- Booms and busts; attempts to inflate market
value, for example, by creating and running an art market index
(mimicking a stock market index) and through a point system to
assign value to individual artists.

* Artists and self-promotion -- Dealers and their attempts to promote
artists and their works.

* Lots of gossip about which artists are with which dealers or
might which to which other dealers -- Perhaps more interesting
that the details of the gossip itself is Haden-Guest's discussion
of how gossip works in and moves the art world.

* Who's hot and who's not -- Plus a short biography of several
artists.

What you will *not* find: anything at all in the way of an
indication that there was an attempt at careful craftsmanship in
the contemporary art movement. This was an art movement that seems
to be about originality, newness, being different, and being
outrageous enough to attract attention.

And, if you are interested in something in the way of a historical
record of the contemporary art world in New York in the last part
of the 20th century, this book is a good way to get it.

By the way, I had an experience with art this last weekend which
was very different from what you'd have with the art discussed in
this book. I visited the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, CA,
USA, which I recommend very strongly, by the way. The contrast
between the contemporary art that Haden-Guest describes and many of
the forms of art in the Asian Art Museum was extreme; there are so
many objects in that museum that were created and crafted with
extreme attention to skill and detail and beauty. Furthermore,
since so many pieces were old, there was a good deal of pottery.
And, that meant that there were many utilitarian pieces that had
been crafted for both usefulness and beauty. It was quite
different from the "newness is everything", in your face styles
described by Haden-Guest.

This book really has provided me the insight into collecting that I had always wanted to see. It was a fantastic,important and redefining period for art and collecting. Tremendously well done.

With only the most banal of polemical perspectives and no aesthetic undepinning, this journalistic description of the recent fluctuations of the art market and its suppliers falls sadly short of the potential interest and excitement of the subject. It's readable. That's it.

Although certainly with the pages are these words, these purpose built spores, like
feilds or kansas. And although again, like a cousin. I read this book and yet somewhere there were people outside the cover, some other story. Perhaps is pehaps is a juice box, what is needed here are vitamins. Such bitter health.

Read about art maybe?

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