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The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art Paperback – Illustrated, April 13, 2010

by Don Thompson (Author)

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Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock's drip painting No. 5, 1948 sell for $140 million?

Intriguing and entertaining, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark is a Freakonomics approach to the economics and psychology of the contemporary art world. Why were record prices achieved at auction for works by 131 contemporary artists in 2006 alone, with astonishing new heights reached in 2007? Don Thompson explores the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt to determine what makes a particular work valuable while others are ignored.

This book is the first to look at the economics and the marketing strategies that enable the modern art market to generate such astronomical prices. Drawing on interviews with past and present executives of auction houses and art dealerships, artists, and the buyers who move the market, Thompson launches the reader on a journey of discovery through the peculiar world of modern art. Surprising, passionate, gossipy, revelatory, The $12 Million Stuffed Shark reveals a great deal that even experienced auction purchasers do not know.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

St. Martin's Griffin
Publication date

April 13, 2010
Dimensions

6.1 x 0.75 x 9.15 inches
ISBN-10

0230620590
ISBN-13

978-0230620599
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Don Thompson has written, by far, the best book on the economics of the contemporary art market yet written.” ―Felix Salmon, Portfolio.com

“Don Thompson provides the single best guide to both the anthropology and the economics of contemporary art markets. This book is fun and fascinating on just about every page.” ―Tyler Cowen, New York Sun

“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…it's called the $12 Million Stuffed Shark.” ―Richard Morrison, The Times (London)

“…it's lucid, well researched and, while carefully balanced, manages to retain a sharp edge .” ―Telegraph UK

“A new book by an economist named Don Thompson entitled $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art ought to be required reading for collectors intending to wade into well publicized contemporary art auctions…” ―Economist.com

“[An] informative an occasionally hilarious look at the surreal contemporary art market... A clear-headed approach to a frequently high-pitched issue.” ―Kirkus

About the Author

Don Thompson is an economist and Emeritus Nabisco Brands Professor of Marketing and Strategy at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. He is the author of The Supermodel and the Brillo Box. He has taught at Harvard Business School and the London School of Economics, and is the author of 11 books. He writes on the economics of the art market for publications as diverse as The Times (London), Harper’s Magazine, and The Art Economist. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Griffin; Illustrated edition (April 13, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0230620590
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0230620599
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 0.75 x 9.15 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #206,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #46 in Business of Art Reference
- #261 in Artist & Architect Biographies
- #830 in Art History (Books)

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Eron

A very fascinating and intelligent engagement

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2009

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Aesthetics as a set of principles and branch of philosophy, deals with questions concerning beauty and artistic experiences. As far as our general understanding of it is concerned it is a highly nebulous field, subjected to tremendous degree of misinterpretation; particularly in the field of abstract, modern or conceptual art. In any field of humanities where the field is less accurately known, and its principles have not been precisely formulated, the more authoritarian the field becomes, where its rules are easily manipulated by those who can. In the field of visual arts, with no exact fundamentals precisely developed, the techniques and approaches are wide open for the artists to imagine, explore in creating their art.

What I was trained to do as an artist when I was in art school myself and what I learned through experience and independent studies in polishing my skills and artistic expressions by which to communicate my aesthetic concepts in producing my art, were two entirely different fields. Art being the highest form of communication, its goal is to create effects along the spectrum of beauty and ugliness of life for the greater good, and in every instance, it communicates a message; a message emanating through the power of the artist's imagination appealing to our intellect and emotions.

As the true nature of an artist continually inspires him to operate in the future and seek changes and improvements in the current state of existence, his art is to soothe our mind and transcend us from our agonies into a culture where it gives Man a splendor of peace and joy to rise to. This is in total contradiction to the "Shock and Awe" concept demonstrated in some of the conceptual arts we observe in the world at the expense of good and effective visual communication.

Thus, treating art as a commodity, artificially branding it and manipulating its market with high level of speculation for nothing other than personal gains and social status - as Don Thompson presents in his "$12 Million Stuffed Shark" is a "kidnaping" of art from its true field into a manipulated commodity territory where its true purpose is badly corrupted at the expense of the aesthetics field and the culture, which it is intrinsically designed to improve by raising its consciousness.

"The $12 Million Dollar Stuffed Shark" is unlike any other book about the art market. It is in essence a well researched, unbiased and documented text book. I was attracted to read it mainly due to the credentials of the author, Don Thompson, believing that it will be a very refreshingly worthwhile book to read and I was not disappointed, but rather quite impressed by its boldness and the candor by which it reveals the "insiders" trading rules of the art market that are openly veiled from the "outsiders." It is quite revealing, insightful, entertaining and richly filled with fascinating true incidents that arms the reader, the artist, the art student or the art admirer to make any discussion about art an awe-inspiring and engaging event.

This is a book that should be read and understood by every artist - young and old - as a main curriculum, to richly complement his understanding of himself, his art and his career as an artist to discover some of the unknown and existing rules of the "Game" that he is playing and its effect upon himself without knowing it. The book should - when correctly understood and evaluated, bring about a realization of true self-worth and acknowledgment for the artist and renewal of faith and hope, that "good art" can still reign supreme - a postulate, a self-determined and self-created truth that one IS empowered, by the magic of his own awareness and imagination, create for himself and within his sphere of influence.

5 people found this helpful

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Tom Groenfeldt

Clarity in Contemporary Art - From a Canadian Economist

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2009

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Confused about modern art? Intimidated by the beautiful young women sitting at the front desks of the all-white contemporary art galleries from New York to London?

Don Thompson, who teaches marketing and economics in Toronto, London and Boston offers reassurance based on a year of research into the art market. This is an excellent combination of smart reporting with questions informed by a background in business and economics. Tired of trying to reach through long-winded tomes on the aesthetics of contemporary art? Here's a welcome and information respite.

You can't understand, or plain can't stand, most of what you see? He finds that experts in the field of contemporary art think 85 percent of it is crap - they just argue over which 85 percent.

Whew. I was wondering if I was alone in skipping gallery after gallery in the big art warehouses in New York's Chelsea. After a quick glance through the doors of most, I move on without ever entering.

Four out of five contemporary art galleries close within five years, and 10 percent of more established galleries also go out of business. Only one artist out of 200 will ever get their work into the auctions at Christie's or Sotheby's. Thompson says London and New York each have 40,000 artists. Of those, 25 are superstars and about 300 are making a decent living. Whew...how do art schools ever persuade student to spend a couple of years and pay tuition to do it?

That puts a lot of the art world in perspective.

Still, the market is active. More than 100 museums have opened in the last 25 years, and each will want to acquire at least 2,000 works of art. Then again, with 40,000 artists in just two art capitals (And where is Paris in this equation? Good question. No mention of the Chinese villages which churn out copies or the growing leagues of accomplished Chinese painters - maybe in the sequel.)

Contemporary art is, or was, a fast-growing market. In one auction, Thompson notes, a Francis Bacon painting at £5.5 million would have paid for two Monets, one Pissarro and a Cezanne auctioned the night before.

Meanwhile, in an effort to beat the two top houses, Phillips de Pury has focused on contemporary art and sold more 21st century art that the other two houses combined.

Think these financiers who buy art are so smart? Thompson says that a
Jeff Koons piece which brought $4 million at Sotheby's in November 2006 could have been picked up from a dealer a few blocks away for $2.25 million.

Does art make sense as an investment? No. "Eighty percent of the art bought from local dealers and local art fairs will never resell for as much as the original purchase price."

"In the overwhelming majors of cases, art is neither a good investment nor an efficient investment vehicle."

Fewer than half the modern and contemporary artists in a Christie's or Sotheby's auction catalogue 25 years ago are still offered at any major auction, says Thompson.

While I can't claim comprehensive knowledge of art books published in the last year, I would hazard a guess that this is one of the clearer explanations of what goes on in the world of studios, galleries and museums.

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Der nette Herr

Etwas gelernt

Reviewed in Germany on November 12, 2023

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Sehr interessantes Buch, auch wenn die Materie nichts mit meinem Alltag zu tun hat. Ich habe mich immer gefragt, wie die Preise zustande kommen und warum einige Künstler berühmt werden. Dieses Buch hilft den kuriosen Kunstmarkt zu verstehen ... und gleichzeitig erkennt man auch, dass man als normaler Mensch wenig Hoffnung haben sollte selbst Kunst als Geldanlage zu nutzen. Hier ist vieles erlaubt, was am Aktienmarkt schon lange verboten ist.

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Johan

Excellent livre

Reviewed in France on January 24, 2023

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Un incontournable pour mieux comprendre le milieu de l’art, le marché de l’art et l’art actuel. Il aborde des notions qui ne sont pas comprises par le commun des mortels. Très intéressant, il permet de s’interroger sur l’argent dans l’art.

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IB3

Check the facts

Reviewed in Spain on January 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

Puppy has been the gatekeeper of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao since its inauguration in 1997. It has been there for the past 25 years and was not taken to the Rockefeller Center in NY. A “brother” or a copy of Puppy was exhibited there. No crap about terrorist threats. This makes one wonder about the rest of the facts contained in the book. Furthermore, the ideas contained become very repetitive and the two handfuls of characters reappear again and again. As for the format of the book, the letter is so tiny, it makes me doubt of the effort of reading it.

francisco gomez macias

El negocio del arte

Reviewed in Mexico on May 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

Muy buen libro, te da un explicación muy clara del fenómeno del arte contemporáneo con relación a la especulación.

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WatchFan

L'arte contemporanea fra illusionisti e nuovi ricchi

Reviewed in Italy on March 24, 2016

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Questo documentato libro inchiesta sul mercato dell'arte contemporanea ha il merito di trattare l'argomento dal punto di vista di un economista. Il suo lavoro punta - riuscendoci - a svelare le logiche puramente speculative che si nascondono dietro valutazioni incomprensibili per i più. Due case d'aste e pochi collezionisti, commercianti, curatori di musei fanno il bello e il cattivo tempo, decretando il successo di artisti/illusionisti che sono soprattutto abili venditori di se stessi, con la complicità più o meno consapevole di nuovi ricchi ansiosi di abbinare le fortune economiche con una legittimazione culturale. Don Thompson lascia che a parlare siano i fatti, raccolti in anni di ricerche, interviste, frequentazione di aste. Qua e là fa capolino lo humour anglosassone, ma per lo più non sono necessarie ironie per sottolineare le assurdità e i tic di un ambiente che, contrariamente a quanto si potrebbe pensare dall'esterno, non ha quasi nulla a che vedere con la qualità delle opere. Al contrario, coloro che dovrebbero aiutare il pubblico a capire, cioè i critici d'arte, sembrano giocare un ruolo irrilevante. Il libro mi è piaciuto al punto che leggerò presto il seguito, uscito nel 2014.

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