A scathing critique of the contemporary art world that will have a relatively small audience.
An exploration of how “the most newsworthy aspect of contemporary art is the price paid for it.”
This tell-all book won’t give you any insights into how to better appreciate the nuances of Andy Warhol silkscreens, but if you are ultrawealthy, it will tell you how to invest in them, take tax deductions, and, if you wait long enough, make money. Thompson (Emeritus, Marketing and Strategy/York Univ.; The Supermodel and the Brillo Box: Back Stories and Peculiar Economics from the World of Contemporary Art, 2014, etc.) has established himself as one of the premier experts in the world of art investing. He writes here that his two previous books on the subject were based on informed art buyers and sellers and rational pricing. Now, that premise has been “shaken.” Taking us on a “journey through the curious world of high-end contemporary art,” he begins with five iconic works: three by Jeff Koons, including his metallic sculptures Balloon Dog (Orange) and Play-Doh, Christopher Wood’s word painting Apocalypse Now, and Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucien Freud. The author describes the auctions of each, arguing that the astronomical prices being paid for them—Dog went for $52 million, and the winner put it in a warehouse while he waits for its value to increase—were all high-end investments. The price of Apocalypse Now has “increased 4,400 times in twenty-five years.” Thompson explores the upper echelons of this art world in great detail, including tales about auction houses and dealers, tax ploys in acquiring, the relationship between contemporary art and fashion, museums, mega art stores, online selling, and certain big-time buyers. The “most important person in the world of contemporary art” isn’t an artist, he writes; it’s Sheikha al-Mayassa, who heads the Qatar Museums Authority and spends millions to acquire art for a tiny number of museumgoers.
A scathing critique of the contemporary art world that will have a relatively small audience.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-77162-152-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.
A well-constructed critique of an economic system that, by the author’s account, is a driver of the world’s destruction.
Harvard Business School professor Henderson vigorously questions the bromide that “management’s only duty is to maximize shareholder value,” a notion advanced by Milton Friedman and accepted uncritically in business schools ever since. By that logic, writes the author, there is no reason why corporations should not fish out the oceans, raise drug prices, militate against public education (since it costs tax money), and otherwise behave ruinously and anti-socially. Many do, even though an alternative theory of business organization argues that corporations and society should enjoy a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, which includes corporate investment in what economists call public goods. Given that the history of humankind is “the story of our increasing ability to cooperate at larger and larger scales,” one would hope that in the face of environmental degradation and other threats, we might adopt the symbiotic model rather than the winner-take-all one. Problems abound, of course, including that of the “free rider,” the corporation that takes the benefits from collaborative agreements but does none of the work. Henderson examines case studies such as a large food company that emphasized environmentally responsible production and in turn built “purpose-led, sustainable living brands” and otherwise led the way in increasing shareholder value by reducing risk while building demand. The author argues that the “short-termism” that dominates corporate thinking needs to be adjusted to a longer view even though the larger problem might be better characterized as “failure of information.” Henderson closes with a set of prescriptions for bringing a more equitable economics to the personal level, one that, among other things, asks us to step outside routine—eat less meat, drive less—and become active in forcing corporations (and politicians) to be better citizens.
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5417-3015-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's...
A fresh, provocative analysis of the debate on education and employment.
Up-and-coming economist Moretti (Economics/Univ. of California, Berkeley) takes issue with the “[w]idespread misconception…that the problem of inequality in the United States is all about the gap between the top one percent and the remaining 99 percent.” The most important aspect of inequality today, he writes, is the widening gap between the 45 million workers with college degrees and the 80 million without—a difference he claims affects every area of peoples' lives. The college-educated part of the population underpins the growth of America's economy of innovation in life sciences, information technology, media and other areas of globally leading research work. Moretti studies the relationship among geographic concentration, innovation and workplace education levels to identify the direct and indirect benefits. He shows that this clustering favors the promotion of self-feeding processes of growth, directly affecting wage levels, both in the innovative industries as well as the sectors that service them. Indirect benefits also accrue from knowledge and other spillovers, which accompany clustering in innovation hubs. Moretti presents research-based evidence supporting his view that the public and private economic benefits of education and research are such that increased federal subsidies would more than pay for themselves. The author fears the development of geographic segregation and Balkanization along education lines if these issues of long-term economic benefits are left inadequately addressed.
A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's more profound problems.Pub Date: May 5, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-75011-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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