About the Book
When you stand in front of a work of art in an auction room or dealer’s gallery, you ask these two questions followed by others: How much is it worth? How much will it be worth in five or ten years’ time? And what will people think of me if they see it hanging on my wall? Breakfast at Sotheby’s is an alphabetical guide to how people reach answers to such questions, and how in the process art is given a financial value. Based on Philip Hook’s thirty-five years’ experience of the art market, Breakfast at Sotheby’s explores the artist and his hinterland (including definitions for -isms, middle-brow artists, Gericault, and suicides), subject and style (from abstract art and banality through surrealism and war), “wall-power,” provenance, and market weather. Comic, revealing, piquant, splendid, and occasionally absurd, Breakfast at Sotheby’s is a book of pleasure and intelligent observation, as engaged with art as it is with the world that surrounds it.
About the Author :
PHILIP HOOK is a director and senior paintings specialist at Sotheby’s. He has worked in the art world for thirty-five years, during which time he has also been a director of Christie’s and an international art dealer. He is the author of five novels and two works of art history, including The Ultimate Trophy, a history of Impressionist painting.
PHILIP HOOK is a director and senior paintings specialist at Sotheby’s. He has worked in the art world for thirty-five years, during which time he has also been a director of Christie’s and an international art dealer. He is the author of five novels and two works of art history, including The Ultimate Trophy, a history of Impressionist painting.
Review :
A breezy, whimsical and often wry compendium, chock-full of hard-won wisdom about what makes someone spend millions of dollars to buy an artwork at auction. "The New York Times"
A witty guide to the contemporary art market . . . Hook is entertaining, and the anecdotes from his career are particularly lively. "Publishers Weekly"
"Hook, a painter and veteran of the art market as an independent dealer, and who posts at Christie s and at Sotheby s, mixes up art history, insider knowledge and the taxing question of what makes art valuable. Chapters on artists, collectors, dealers, emerging markets. The Missing Pictures chapter could prompt its own book." "Seattle Time"
A winner. Readers will learn more about the modern art market in this simple book than in any college course " "Kirkus ""(starred review)
"Droll and elegant . . . [An] exceptional book. Reading it is like participating in a hugely enjoyable personal tutorial given by a cultured, witty, clear-eyed worldly teacher with a fully functioning sense of humor."" "William Boyd, author of "Waiting for Sunrise
"How to nail the mad, bad, crazy contemporary art world in print? Sotheby's senior director Hook . . . unravels, with humor, piquancy and erudition, what drives the economics of taste."" "Financial Times
"Phillip Hook's delightful Breakfast at Sotheby's"is a house sale of a book, a chance for him to clear out thirty-five years of memories as an art dealer and auctioneer, first at Christie's and then Sotheby's."" The Economist"
"It's very hard to write an amusing book about art that has some serious things to say. But Phillip Hook has done it."Breakfast at Sotheby's" is more a kind of"Lonely Planet"guide, written from the perspective of an auctioneer. In places it's a hoot, but it's also very wise here and there, and refreshingly irreverent."" Sunday Times"
A dishy lexicon of art-world topics and terminology . . . With its tone of art-history-textbook-meets-tabloid, Hook s witty primer provides a truthful yet humorous crash course, an insider s take that is more gentle ribbing than art world expose. ""Booklist""
Brilliantly conceived . . . accessible, enjoyable, and insightful . . . Highly recommended for art buyers, art lovers, dealers, and other professionals as well as for general readers. "" "Library Journal""""
"A breezy, whimsical and often wry compendium, chock-full of hard-won wisdom about what makes someone spend millions of dollars to buy an artwork at auction." --"The New York Times"
"A witty guide to the contemporary art market . . . Hook is entertaining, and the anecdotes from his career are particularly lively." --"Publishers Weekly"
"Hook, a painter and veteran of the art market as an independent dealer, and who posts at Christie's and at Sotheby's, mixes up art history, insider knowledge and the taxing question of what makes art valuable. Chapters on artists, collectors, dealers, emerging markets. The "Missing Pictures" chapter could prompt its own book." --"Seattle Time"
"A winner. Readers will learn more about the modern art market in this simple book than in any college course"" --"Kirkus -""(starred review)
"Droll and elegant . . . [An] exceptional book. Reading it is like participating in a hugely enjoyable personal tutorial given by a cultured, witty, clear-eyed worldly teacher with a fully functioning sense of humor." "--"William Boyd, author of "Waiting for Sunrise
"How to nail the mad, bad, crazy contemporary art world in print? Sotheby's senior director Hook . . . unravels, with humor, piquancy and erudition, what drives the economics of taste." "--"Financial Times
"Phillip Hook's delightful Breakfast at Sotheby's" is a house sale of a book, a chance for him to clear out thirty-five years of memories as an art dealer and auctioneer, first at Christie's and then Sotheby's." "--The Economist"
"It's very hard to write an amusing book about art that has some serious things to say. But Phillip Hook has done it. "Breakfast at Sotheby's" is more a kind of "Lonely Planet "guide, written from the perspective of an auctioneer. In places it's a hoot, but it's also very wise here and there, and refreshingly irreverent." "--Sunday Times"
"A dishy lexicon of art-world topics and terminology . . . With its tone of art-history-textbook-meets-tabloid, Hook's witty primer provides a truthful yet humorous crash course, an insider's take that is more gentle ribbing than art world expose." --""Booklist ""
"Brilliantly conceived . . . accessible, enjoyable, and insightful . . . Highly recommended for art buyers, art lovers, dealers, and other professionals as well as for general readers.""" --"Library Journal"""
"A witty guide to the contemporary art market . . . Hook is entertaining, and the anecdotes from his career are particularly lively." --"Publishers Weekly"
"A winner. Readers will learn more about the modern art market in this simple book than in any college course"" --"Kirkus -""(starred review)
"Droll and elegant . . . [An] exceptional book. Reading it is like participating in a hugely enjoyable personal tutorial given by a cultured, witty, clear-eyed worldly teacher with a fully functioning sense of humor." "--"William Boyd, author of "Waiting for Sunrise
"How to nail the mad, bad, crazy contemporary art world in print? Sotheby's senior director Hook . . . unravels, with humor, piquancy and erudition, what drives the economics of taste." "--"Financial Times""
"Phillip Hook's delightful Breakfast at Sotheby's" is a house sale of a book, a chance for him to clear out thirty-five years of memories as an art dealer and auctioneer, first at Christie's and then Sotheby's." "--The Economist"
"It's very hard to write an amusing book about art that has some serious things to say. But Phillip Hook has done it. "Breakfast at Sotheby's" is more a kind of "Lonely Planet "guide, written from the perspective of an auctioneer. In places it's a hoot, but it's also very wise here and there, and refreshingly irreverent." "--Sunday Times"
"A dishy lexicon of art-world topics and terminology . . . With its tone of art-history-textbook-meets-tabloid, Hook's witty primer provides a truthful yet humorous crash course, an insider's take that is more gentle ribbing than art world expose." --""Booklist
"Brilliantly conceived . . . accessible, enjoyable, and insightful . . . Highly recommended for art buyers, art lovers, dealers, and other professionals as well as for general readers." --"Library Journal"""
