Owning Art: The Contemporary Art Collector's Handbook [Hardcover]

The quality of this book as an object is rather remarkable. The harcover is clothed and the text is set in such a way that the book is almost an artwork by itself.

The core text by the two authors is put into perspective with many quotes by art professionals or connoisseurs who have an experience of art collecting in different roles and with different types of art.

This book is decidedly about the experience of collecting art works, what it brings to various people, why some people come to art collecting, and what keeps them going in this peculiar practice.

This book is not about collecting as a financial investment opportunity.

It provides a lot of information and tips about various topics as can be seen from the contents below. Warmly recommended.

Introduction: To have and to hold: a compulsion to collect, 10

Chapter One: Creating collectors, 18
Why collectors collect, 21
Why contemporary art?, 23
The making of a collector: three guiding principles, 28
Organising a collection: collecting strategies, 35
Becoming a collector: the practicalities, 42

Chapter Two: The Art, 50
What is contemporary art?, 53
Art by medium, 68

Chapter Three: Buying art, 98
Examining the art market, 101
Entering the art market, 103
Money matters, 108
Dealers, 114
Art fairs, 131
Auction houses, 142
Art advisers, 159
Other sources, 164
General buying reminders, 168

Chapter Four: Practicalities of ownership, 170
Caring for art, 172
Documenting the work, 178
Insurance, 180
Transport, 185
Installation, 196
Framing, 204
Conservation and maintenance, 206
Conservation challenges, 211
When accidents happen, 226
Storage, 228
Institutional loans, 230

Chapter Five: Museums and non-profit organisations, 234
Institutional associations, 237
The museum, 241
The museum as modern, 245
Institutional collecting, 248
Cast of characters, 250
Only spaces, or no spaces at all, 254
Private wealth and the institution, 256
Forms of patronage, 260
Other forms of support, 264
Private foundations and spaces, 268
Patronage guidelines, 271

Technical terms, 274
Sources, 283
Index, 288

OWNING ART is a fascinating perspective on the intricacies of art collecting. The authors, Louisa Buck and Judith Greer, outline not only the practical matters associated with collecting art, but also - and maybe more importantly - the different theoretical aspects of collecting. I am not a collector of contemporary art, yet this insightful book introduced me to several different ways of thinking about contemporary art in particular and, more generally, about the shape of a collection. Buck and Greer emphasise choice and decision-making as privileged moments in the construction of an archive. Ultimately, OWNING ART moves beyond the point of purchase to demonstrate how a collection can be the physical trace that ties together taste, ability, access and human relationships.

Absolutely love this book. I saw it originally in the book shop of a gallery and because (of course) it was too expensive in the book shop I thought I'd check how much it was on Amazon before I bought it and I was so happy when I found it here.

The book itself is really beautiful, I really love cloth covered books and I am happy to place it proudly on my book shelf.

Regarding the content: it's a really nice way to read lightly about a heavy subject such as the art market but it is fun to read and very informative. I bought it for my Fine Art BA to do some research and I am very happy I spent the money on it.