or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
26 used & new from £7.45
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art (Paperback)

by Don Thompson (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.99
Price: £9.91 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £5.08 (34%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 24? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
20 new from £7.54 6 used from £7.45
12 Days of Christmas Sale in Books
12 Days of Christmas Sale in Books
Get up to 65% off some of our top titles. Shop now

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Frequently Bought Together

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art + Seven Days in the Art World + Owning Art: The Contemporary Art Collector's Handbook
Price For All Three: £25.43

Show availability and delivery details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Seven Days in the Art World

Seven Days in the Art World

by Sarah Thornton
4.6 out of 5 stars (5)  £6.57
Owning Art: The Contemporary Art Collector's Handbook

Owning Art: The Contemporary Art Collector's Handbook

by Louisa Buck
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £8.95
The Art Business

The Art Business

by Iain Robertson
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £22.79
Talking Prices: Symbolic Meanings of Prices on the Market for Contemporary Art (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology)

Talking Prices: Symbolic Meanings of Prices on the Market for Contemporary Art (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology)

by Olav Velthuis
£11.19
Understanding International Art Markets and Management

Understanding International Art Markets and Management

by Iain Robertson
£21.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Aurum Press Ltd (1 Jan 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1845133021
  • ISBN-13: 978-1845133023
  • Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 15.6 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 29,123 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #15 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Biographies & Histories > Finance and Stock Market History

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   $12 Stuffed Shark opens new browser window
www.foyles.co.uk/art  -  Huge range of art books at Foyles In store (2rd floor) or online 
  
 

Product Description

Richard Morrison in The Times, January 16th 2008

"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."


The Independent, 28th March 2008

an 'entralling revelation-rich trip through the money game of the art market.'
See all Product Description
Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
81% buy the item featured on this page:
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art 4.2 out of 5 stars (5)
£9.91
Seven Days in the Art World
10% buy
Seven Days in the Art World 4.6 out of 5 stars (5)
£6.57
Lucky Kunst: The Story of YBA
4% buy
Lucky Kunst: The Story of YBA 3.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£9.85
Owning Art: The Contemporary Art Collector's Handbook
3% buy
Owning Art: The Contemporary Art Collector's Handbook 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£8.95
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A shark that is not alone swimming in those waters..., 26 Oct 2008
By Claude Reich (Florianopolis, Brazil and Paris, France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Written by an economist who had access to the most important actors (collectors, dealers, auctioneers, curators, art fair directors...)while doing his research, this book is an in-depth study of the way the market for contemporary art functions, the part played by auction houses, dealers, big collectors, museums, the sometimes incestuous relationships that exist between all of them, how art is priced, how auctions are organized (on and off the scene), how gallery shows are sold (or pre-sold), the importance of art-branding in creating an artist's reputation (the brand being the gallery, the auction house, the artist himself, a museum, or even a collector if he is important enough), and, most importantly, how these art brands are created. One insighful conclusion is that the art market, and the market for contemporary art in particular, is as much brand-driven as any other high-end luxury market. Through case studies (the dealers Larry Gagosian or Jay Joplin, the artists Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, the auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's, the collector Charles Saatchi...)and broader considerations on the overall economics of art, the author manages to write a book which is at the same time well informed (with some spelling approximations, e.g. "Joe Bernardo" for the Portuguese collector Jose Berardo), to the point and easy to read. Of the more than twenty books on the topic available on Amazon's, this one is the best in my opinion (and I've read quite a few...).
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Art is all about money, 9 Feb 2009
By G. J. Davis "GD" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
If you are interested in the financial side of art then this is a great book. If you think art is all about money then this book will be an agreeable read. But if you think art is on a higher plain than filthy lucre then you'll be spitting blood with this book.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Art for Money's Sake, Money for Art's Sake, 21 Dec 2008
Whilst the art industry traditionally shrouded the artwork behind a transcendental aesthetic fetishism which rendered redundant any notion of use value, the contemporary market has abstracted this onto a purely economic level. Art's value is now not only shorn of any relation to its production or other commodities, but also to those of other artworks.

Thompson provides an insightful investigation into the mechanics of the art market, illuminating the exponential process of increasing sums of money being exchanged for artworks, setting new sales records on a regular basis over recent years. To explore this phenomenon the book reflects on the relationship between artists, galleries, auction houses and collectors, focusing on recent transactions, and some of the major players and artworks involved, with a particular emphasis on the central role of the major auction houses, Sotheby's and Christies, in setting standards of financial value for artworks.

The importance of the book lies in the fact that it reveals that contemporary art production and consumption have little to do with promoting reflective or challenging ideas through the work itself, or has any basis in qualitative values held by either the public, or the industry itself. It is is shame then, that at points in the text, Thompson derides the work of various YBA artists as being substantially of less value than works from earlier historical periods. Asserting subjective judgements of this kind contradicts the journalistic neutrality the book generally projects, and adds nothing to the information it presents.

Perhaps the book could have benefited by relating the art market to the parallel recent developments in investment finance and consumerism to reveal wider social trends taking place, and the interrelated notions of growth, risk management and conspicuous consumption, that fuel and regulate contemporary global economies. But overall it is an informative enough view of the interdependent relationships between aesthetics, investment and consumption within a traditionally discreet commodity based industry.

Interestingly since the books publication the art market has yet again evolved to another level. Damien Hirst's Sept 2008 Sotheby's auction 'Beautiful Inside My Head Forever', recomposed the balance between artist, gallery and auction house into a new alignment, suggesting a new future economic paradigm for the high end players in the market, and perhaps even a starting point for a second volume!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Swim with the sharks: making sense of contemporary art
When it comes to contemporary art, many observers simply scratch their heads and mumble, "You call that art? Read more
Published 28 days ago by Rolf Dobelli

3.0 out of 5 stars The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
This book had been highly recommended but I must confess to finding it a less easy read than I had hoped. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. Dennistoun

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject











i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.