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The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art Hardcover – September 16, 2008

by Don Thompson (Author)

297 ratings

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Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock’s drip painting No. 5, 1948 sell for $140 million?

Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a Freakonomics approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored.

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 both 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.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date

September 16, 2008
Dimensions

6.42 x 1.08 x 9.55 inches
ISBN-10

0230610226
ISBN-13

978-0230610224
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Don Thompson has written, by far, the best book on the economics of the contemporary art market yet written."--Felix Salmon, Portfolio.com

"Don Thompson provides the single best guide to both the anthropology and the economics of contemporary art markets. This book is fun and fascinating on just about every page.” --Tyler Cowen, New York Sun

"If you read no other book about art in your life, read the one that’s gripped me like a thriller for the past two days…it’s called the $12 Million Stuffed Shark.” --Richard Morrison, The Times (London)

"…it’s lucid, well researched and, while carefully balanced, manages to retain a sharp edge ." --Telegraph UK

"A new book by an economist named Don Thompson entitled $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art ought to be required reading for collectors intending to wade into well publicized contemporary art auctions…" --The Economist.com

"[An] informative an occasionally hilarious look at the surreal contemporary art market... A clear-headed approach to a frequently high-pitched issue." --Kirkus

About the Author

Don Thompson teaches marketing and economics in the MBA program at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. He has taught at the London School of Economics and at Harvard Business School. He lives in London and Toronto.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (September 16, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0230610226
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0230610224
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.42 x 1.08 x 9.55 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #646,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #234 in Business of Art Reference
- #583 in Individual Architects & Firms
- #787 in Marketing & Consumer Behavior

Customer Reviews:
297 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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P. Jones

Explained: why works void of talent are considered to be both art and valuable.

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

Brilliant piece uncovering the mystery of why we observe so-called works of art clearly void of artistic talent sell for exorbitant amounts of money. I like to consider myself an amateur art connoisseur, but maybe I am unworthy of such a title since I fail to comprehend how contemporary works can fetch more than a medieval masterpiece at auction. The author of this book has provided me much clarity on the absurdity of art values. His writing style is entertaining, intriguing, and practical.

I plan on acquiring his more recent works (2 books as of this review date), which appear to expound on this subject.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

daniel guerra villarreal

... in Art nor do I own any art and enjoyed this book tremendously

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2017

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I am not in any way involved in Art nor do I own any art and enjoyed this book tremendously. Being in real estate and finance made this book ever more compelling to read. There are a lot of parallels in the psychology and economics of trading modern art, real estate and any other alternative asset which makes this book a great way to force lateral thinking between two, arguably, unrelated sectors. I couldn't recommend this book more to anyone involved in finance or the trading of securities and assets. I wish this author wrote about other industries as the book details just about every revenue stream, challenge and opportunity in the dealer, auction house market. Anyhow, do read this book. It is quite good.

10 people found this helpful

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S. Morgan

Very Good Book For Art Collectors

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2016

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I have recently read a number of books on art collecting and more specifically, contemporary art collecting. The $12 Million Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art, as compared to other books on this subject, provides a 360 degree view of the contemporary art market. The book provides a view of the market from the perspective of the collector, dealer and auction house and really gives the reader a sense of how the market operates and the pros and cons of this unique manner in which art is bought and sold. I enjoyed this book so much that I decided to purchase Mr. Thompson’s more recent book on the same topic - The Supermodel and the Brillo Box: Back Stories and Peculiar Economics from the World of Contemporary Art.

7 people found this helpful

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D. Garnett

An excellent look at the art business. And that makes it a frustrating read

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2020

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Ever wonder if the world of high ticket contemporary art is as strange as it seems? It is.

This economist based look at the business is interesting. And, being friends with many superb artists, frustrating as it makes clear that big ticket sales have nothing to do with quality and depend on people with too much kidney strutting for each other.

A must read if you want to check out that strangeness.

Helpful

Gustavus Ramsay

Naked Emperors

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2016

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This is a very well documented encapsulation of all that is horrifyingly wrong with the art market today, esp in the USA and London where quality and talent is totally subjugated to and trumped by sensation, trendiness and outrage. No one is taught craft anymore with the result that the discerning eye in art has ceased to exist. Where is Robert Hughes when we need him? Don Thompson is doing a great job filling his shoes. The emperors are starkers, and the Gagosians of the world are, to my mind, making a fortune off of it. Caveat emptor !!!!

2 people found this helpful

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D. Roper

Explains a lot about contemporary art prices

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2015

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Being an amateur artist, I often wonder what makes some of, well, most of, contemporary or modern art so valuable. It's not the aesthetics. It's the money aspect that gives the art 'value.' Buyers could just as well be investing in stocks or commodities. They play futures. How do you compare a van Gogh with a Hirst. You don't. The van Gogh is irreplaceable. The original $12 million stuffed shark decomposed and was just replaced with another shark.

2 people found this helpful

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Dr. Wayne

Great way to get up to speed on the insane ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2014

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Great way to get up to speed on the insane and intriguing contemporary art market. Probably the most interesting conclusion I draw is based on my new understanding of why Stephen A Cohen is such a good and successful art collector / investor. When one achieves a high status in the contemporary art world, as has Stephen A Cohen, he gets 1) first looks at hot artists at discounted prices and 2) has the ability to turn a no-name artist into something more by simply buying his/her work. Thus, he easily gets the best deals and investment opportunities within the Contemporary art world. I liken this to insider trading in the world of stock trading, but in the contemporary art market, unlike the stock market, insider trading is legal - so no wonder he like the contemporary art market so much. To the victor go the spoils!

2 people found this helpful

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Jesse M. Dunlap

I Loved it in Spite of a Few Drawbacks

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2010

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When you read this book, you will feel like you are reading a thrilling novel. The author sweeps you along, divulging such new and inconceivable information, that you will constantly want to keep going. I learned more from this book than I ever learned about the art world as an art student. It is true, though, that this author has only focused on a part of the art world, and there are many successful artists working in areas uncovered by the book. I think anyone who reads this book, artist or not, would find it quite enjoyable despite a few drawbacks.

It is poorly edited. Sometimes there are missing words or even misspellings. There are too many chapters about auctions, which slows the pace in the middle. The ending gets interesting again, but the author seems to have lost his vision. He makes certain cases, and then gives us example after example in which he proves himself wrong. That was a little confusing.

I still give the book five stars because I can't tell you how much I learned. Yes, the book isn't perfect, but I don't remember liking a non fiction book this much in a long time!

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Canna_W

It looks at artists like On Kawara

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2014

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Only recently, Tracey Emin's installation "My Bed" was sold at auction for £2.5 million.

This book explains such phenomena. It was written for people who read about multi-million dollar prices for contemporary artworks and wonder how such eye-watering figures are reached. Most of the art discussed in the book is conceptual, but then a lot of contemporary art is conceptual.

It looks at artists like On Kawara, whose pictures of dates - literally pictures of dates - sell for up to £300,000 each.

Or Felix Gonzales-Torres, whose sculpture "(Untitled) Lover Boys" made of 355 lbs of individual wrapped blue and white candies, sold for $456,000.

Gonzales-Torres also did another sculpture of a pile of 10,000 fortune cookies. This did not reach its reserve price at auction, but the bidding went up to $520,000. In both instances of course there were ideas behind these works. They weren't just cookies or just sweeties. But for some of us the accusation that the emperor is not wearing any clothes cannot help but float to mind.

The author is an economist who has taught marketing at both Harvard Business School and the London School of Economics. He obviously enjoys contemporary art, both as a collector and an observer, and he casts a wide net. He looks at artists, dealers, auction houses and art fairs, and he follows the funnel that sucks in newbie artists at the top, and pops the lucky ones, (the very lucky ones), out at the bottom, as huge iconic branded figures like Damian Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andreas Gursky or David Hockney. We follow the artists' journey - which is mostly one of patronage, from when they leave art school to when they reach the big time, and each step of the way is analysed.

Points of interest I noted from the book....

1) I realised how woefully ignorant I was when it comes to contemporary art. The book mentioned many successful artists with whom I was unfamiliar, and it was good to google their work, and get an idea of what they were doing.

2) It really alerted me to the power of branding, of making oneself into a megga celebrity whose casual signature - let alone artworks - would be treasured for posterity.

3) It gave me a taste of how the super rich wheel and deal. I'm a pore pore woman from sleepy middle England, and I found this eye-opening stuff. These multi-millionaires can be surprisingly insecure though, often relying on the taste of their dealers to tell them what they need to buy. Sometimes they even buy blind, without actually seeing the artwork.

4) Snobbery and status. This would seem to be the underlying impulse for a lot of people buying expensive art. To be seen to have a Damian Hirst on one's wall is big time kudos. Think of owning a Gucci handbag, but bigger, brighter, bolder and sexier.

I have done little to describe the full compass of this book - it really is wonderfully researched and detailed, whilst still being hugely fun and readable. Its ultimate message ? Buy the art you like, and enjoy it. The likelihood of it being a good investment is small. Even Charles Saatchi falls over on a regular basis. Just go for things that give you pleasure.

Absolutely fascinating and highly recommended.

---------------------------------------------------------

In tandem with reading this book, I listened again to Grayson Perry's fantastic series of Reith Lectures on contemporary art. If Thompson explains the backstage mechanics of today's art market, then Perry explains the heart, creativity and excitement of modern art and artists. Both compliment one another beautifully.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtehJ3...

8 people found this helpful

Alina

Interesting revelations about the inner workings of the art market

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2017

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The book presents some interesting facts about the art market: how price for a painting is set, the different actors in the art market (collectors, dealers, auction houses, museum curators, artists, art critics), how art auctions function, how art and new artists are marketed.
I found it to be a little tedious at times, and some ideas could be presented in a more concise way. Overall though it is a very interesting and informative read that allowed me to learn about the most important art galleries, art fairs and contemporary artists.

One person found this helpful

Fascinating insight into the economics of contemporary art - well worth reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2012

Verified Purchase

Don Thompson took on the phenomenon of contemporary art, and more importantly the very hair raising prices achieved for some of the pieces (where on occassion your average observer from without the art world would fail to note artistic merit) and analysed it from the point of view of the way this market functions.

He covers all aspects, from the auction houses (primary focus on Christie's and Sotheby's), to branded dealers, to mainstream dealers, art fairs, celebrity collectors, museum curators, art consultants, critics, branded artists themselves, and finally modern buyers and puts these together in a coherent whole, providing a compelling explanation for how the contemporary art world functions.

At the same time this does not read like a stuffy tome on economics, it is much more Malcolm Gladwell in style (with some added structure). He starts off with a good introduction to the phenomenon as a whole, and then subsequently delves into increasing detail on specific aspects (like what mechanisms / tricks of the trade an auctioneer uses for most success). This allows those with a passing interest only to get a good overview early on, and then to skip to perhaps one or two chapters they are particularly curious about, while a more determined reader has the whole spectrum available for a cover to cover read.

The book does come with a short disclaimer - while the author does raise the question of whether art can still be contributed to an artist, if they hardly lay hand on it during its creation, or whether 'a jacket in the corner of a room' is art, the book will not delve in depth into such matters. Thompson takes these things as a given, and rather focuses on the psychological setups and uncertainties of the modern buyer to explain the prices achieved, be it in the end art or not.

How far the concept of branding has made it in the art world, and how important it became may be a shock to most outsiders but the sources used (many of the who's who of the contemporary art ecosystem) add the view a lot of credibility and while art critics or the odd artist may be vexed by the utilitarian view presented of some aspects, it at least appears perfectly plausible.

The book has a good reference section at the end and with the index one can surf back to the section of interest quite nicely on a Kindle. The fact that all the pictures are at the very back in the Kindle format does not help (would in my opinion work better next to the text) but overall the formating of the Kindle version - for all sizes - is spot on.

A book well worth buying for anyone curious about the prices achieved, as well as into how a completely unregulated market can arrange itself and what practices develop in order to take advantage of the setup - can hardly praise it hard enough.

3 people found this helpful

Gethin Darklord

Sharks abound

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is an amusing and comprehensive review of the Art business. It is a lot cheaper than the Christies Art Business course but less academic, it is also enlivened by accounts of the eccentricities of some artists. As a general introduction to the area it is valuable. I certainly won't look at buying my next picture quite the same and have concluded that there is a bubble particularly in YBA where the technical skills of the celebrities are minimal. I urge all the plutocrats who waste their money on fashionable art to do something useful with it - like pay for teachers or family planning in poor contries rather than pose to one another.

2 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Interesting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

Some books are too long, this is one of them. He does bang on! All very interesting stuff and well researched but I found myself skipping over endless pages citing facts about the same small group of individuals, institutions and works of art until in the end I lost interest and moved on.

Don't let me put you off though as it is reasonably well written and easy to read and also the layout is useful in that you can skip to the chapters which are relevant to your interests. It covers everything you would ever want to know about the workings of the contemporary art scene and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn about it. I just feel it would have delivered more impact were it a little less long-winded.

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