Description

Book Synopsis

The modern art market was born on a single night. On 15 October 1958 Sotheby's of Bond Street staged an event sale' of Impressionist paintings from the collection of an American banker, Erwin Goldschmidt: three Manets, two Cézannes, one Van Gogh and a Renoir. Movie stars and other celebrities attended in black tie and saw the seven lots go for 781,000 at the time the highest price for a single art sale.

Overnight, London became the world centre of the art market and Sotheby's an international auction house. The event signalled a shift in power from dealers to auctioneers and pointed the way for Impressionist paintings to dominate the market for the next forty years. In this climate Sotheby's and Christie's became a great business duopoly as aggressive, dominant and competitive in the field of art sales as Pepsi and Coca-Cola were in soft drinks. The resulting expansion of the market was accompanied by rocketing prices, colourful scandals and legal dramas. Over the decades,

Rogues and Scholars

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    A Hardback by James Stourton

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      Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 9/12/2024
      ISBN13: 9781804541975, 978-1804541975
      ISBN10: 1804541974
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      History

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      The modern art market was born on a single night. On 15 October 1958 Sotheby's of Bond Street staged an event sale' of Impressionist paintings from the collection of an American banker, Erwin Goldschmidt: three Manets, two Cézannes, one Van Gogh and a Renoir. Movie stars and other celebrities attended in black tie and saw the seven lots go for 781,000 at the time the highest price for a single art sale.

      Overnight, London became the world centre of the art market and Sotheby's an international auction house. The event signalled a shift in power from dealers to auctioneers and pointed the way for Impressionist paintings to dominate the market for the next forty years. In this climate Sotheby's and Christie's became a great business duopoly as aggressive, dominant and competitive in the field of art sales as Pepsi and Coca-Cola were in soft drinks. The resulting expansion of the market was accompanied by rocketing prices, colourful scandals and legal dramas. Over the decades,

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