True Colors: The Real Life of the Art World

Ordered the book because of my interest in recent art history. Prominent author who wrote forthe New Yorker. Copy arrived early and was in excellent condition. i gave you five stars, whatelse do you want?

The author has written about the art world for years and this covers the beginning of the contemporary art scene until the mid 90's. Many of the people he writes about weren't well known then but are now. Can't wait till he publishes the second part from 1994 to 2014.

What it's about -- The world of contemporary art in New York, NY,including the artists, their work, the dealers, the galleries, anda 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 morecomplete picture, visit the "Contemporary Art" page at Wikipedia([...]) and look for thetable of sub-movements.Some of the characters and the "works of art" that they've producedare outlandish. I put "works of art" in quotes, because you willneed a very loose definition of "works of art" if you want to coversome of these objects. In fact, you might need something as broadand inclusive as "whatever is produced by someone who callshim/herself an artist and calls what they've done 'art'". Or, analternative definition that might be broad enough to include theworks discussed could be "it's art if it's sold in an art galleryand 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; theywere, for example, performances. Others were objects, but wereintentionally designed to be un-sale-able, perhaps by beingimpermanent.For most of the works discussed the idea is much more significantthan the handiwork and craftsmanship required to produce it.But, then, for me, that is part of the value of this book: itencourages me to think about what qualifies as art and about whatis valuable in art. With respect to the contemporary art discussedby Haden-Guest, the qualities that make this art valuable genuinelyare questionable. It certainly isn't beauty. And, it's seldomthat it is socially meaningful, or meaningful in any reasonableway. In fact, from this book you'd conclude that the primary valueof the art in the contemporary art world is it's value in terms ofmoney at an auction, its exchange value in a gallery, or even it'suse 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 itis.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 anindication that there was an attempt at careful craftsmanship inthe contemporary art movement. This was an art movement that seemsto be about originality, newness, being different, and beingoutrageous enough to attract attention.And, if you are interested in something in the way of a historicalrecord of the contemporary art world in New York in the last partof the 20th century, this book is a good way to get it.By the way, I had an experience with art this last weekend whichwas very different from what you'd have with the art discussed inthis book. I visited the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, CA,USA, which I recommend very strongly, by the way. The contrastbetween the contemporary art that Haden-Guest describes and many ofthe forms of art in the Asian Art Museum was extreme; there are somany objects in that museum that were created and crafted withextreme 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 hadbeen crafted for both usefulness and beauty. It was quitedifferent from the "newness is everything", in your face stylesdescribed by Haden-Guest.

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.Danandre-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.

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.

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.

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.