Literature: Michael Findlay: The Value of Art
ARTinvestment.RU   03 июня 2020

Book-прогулка on the history and present of the art market from the art dealer, auctioneer and poet in one person

the Value of art: money, power, and beauty

Author: Michael Findley
year: 2012
208 pages
Publisher: Prestel, USA
ISBN: 9783791349138

In yesterday's material AI with the main points made in the podcast from UBS, we mentioned about the formation of art-рынка in its present form, began in 1980-е years. "The crown" of the period was the sale of paintings by Vincent van Gogh "Portrait of doctor Gachet" (1890) the owner of a Japanese paper mill Reey Saito for a record at the time, $82.5 million (today, adjusted for inflation, this amount would equal $161 million). Auction record set at Christie's, lasted more than 15 years, and the same number came up in the art market, agitated, expressive shopping Japanese collectors 1980-х. Today few people remember that the sale from the auction house was the current Director of the network of Aquavella galleries Michael Findlay — author of "the Value of art".

the Way the author can identify three milestones: the gallery — auction — gallery. Born in Scotland and received art education in Canada, Michael Findley moved to new-Йорк in 1970-х opened one of the first contemporary art galleries in SOHO. It is to him that owe their discovery to a broad market of art artists such as John Baldessari and Joseph Beuys. The success of the young dealer has not gone unnoticed: in 1984, Findlay invited Christie's auction house, however, instructed him not modern authors, and of the Impressionists and modernists, to the work which the Scot had "locked" their education. After six years the peak of his career and the auction was a record sale of van Gogh — then Michael Findlay, Christie's gave 10 years and moved to the gallery Aсquavella, where he headed one of the most influential family-owned dealership businesses of the twentieth century.

Why we elaborated on the author's biography? Because the knowledge (not just understanding) of the mechanisms of public and private markets have allowed Michael Findlay to write a very good book — for 2012 and for today's reader. Add here that, like Robert burns, Scot Findlay is also a poet: the material in the original not only dramatically structured, but written in a lively, pleasant language. The poetic nature of the author gave it to fool around in the sections of the book: they are named after the three Greek Harith: Aglaia (beauty), Eufrosina (sanity) and Thalia (abundance), which is consonant with the three main motivations collector — emotional, financial and social. The book "the Value of art", written by critic, all his life selling items of his study, — is a balance between numbers and explanation, trying to show how artistic value is based on market value. The publication is structured in the form of a guide, the reader travels all over new-Йорку Michael Findlay as a guide: chronology of events will jump from one decade to another, from the auction house to the Museum, as well as changing architectural styles and commercial building on Fifth Avenue while walking.

In 2017, the academic Michael Finley has shown in his new book Seeing Slowly: Looking at Modern Art ("Watch slowly: a look at the art modernism") — self-publishing, which perfectly complements the "Value of art": our reader remembers that the formation of taste of the collector begins with the Museum.

Denys Belkevych, AI