Business of Art Books

Seven Days in the Art World

Sarah Thornton

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A fly-on-the-wall account of the smart and strange subcultures that make, trade, curate, collect, and hype contemporary art.

The art market has been booming. Museum attendance is surging. More people than ever call themselves artists. Contemporary art has become a mass entertainment, a luxury good, a job description, and, for some, a kind of alternative religion.

In a series of beautifully paced narratives, Sarah Thornton investigates the drama of a Christie's auction, the workings in Takashi Murakami's studios, the elite at the Basel Art Fair, the eccentricities of Artforum magazine, the competition behind an important art prize, life in a notorious art-school seminar, and the wonderland of the Venice Biennale. She reveals the new dynamics of creativity, taste, status, money, and the search for meaning in life. A judicious and juicy account of the institutions that have the power to shape art history, based on hundreds of interviews with high-profile players, Thornton's entertaining ethnography will change the way you look at contemporary culture.

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

Don Thompson

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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 both 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.

The Art of the Turnaround: Creating and Maintaining Healthy Arts Organizations

Michael M. Kaiser

Amazon Price: $17.16 List Price: $26.00 By: Brandeis Amazon Marketplace: 4 new & used starting at $17.16

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Many arts organizations today find themselves in financial difficulties because of economic constraints inherent in the industry. While other companies can improve productivity through the use of new technologies or better systems, these approaches are not available in the arts. Hamlet requires the same number of performers today as it did in Shakespeare's time. The New York Philharmonic requires the same number of musicians now as it did when Tchaikovsky conducted it over one hundred years ago. Costs go up, but the size of theaters and the price resistance of patrons limit what can be earned from ticket sales. Therefore, the performing arts industry faces a severe gap between earnings and expenses. Typical approaches to closing the gap--raising ticket prices or cutting artistic or marketing expenses--don't work.

What, then, does it take to create and maintain a healthy arts organization?

Michael M. Kaiser has revived four major arts organizations: the Kansas City Ballet, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, and London's Royal Opera House. In The Art of the Turnaround he shares with readers his ten basic rules for bringing financially distressed arts organizations back to life and keeping them strong. These rules cover the requirements for successful leadership, the pitfalls of cost cutting, the necessity of extending the programming calendar, the centrality of effective marketing and fund raising, and the importance of focusing on the present with a positive public message. In chapters organized chronologically, Kaiser brings his ten rules vividly to life in discussions of the four arts organizations he is credited with saving. The book concludes with a chapter on his experiences at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, an arts organization that needed an artistic turnaround when he became the president in 2001 and that today exemplifies in practice many of the ten rules he discusses throughout his book.

Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy

Lawrence Lessig

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The author of Free Culture shows how we harm our children—and almost anyone who creates, enjoys, or sells any art form—with a restrictive copyright system driven by corporate interests. Lessig reveals the solutions to this impasse offered by a collaborative yet profitable “hybrid economy”.

Lawrence Lessig, the reigning authority on intellectual property in the Internet age, spotlights the newest and possibly the most harmful culture war—a war waged against our kids and others who create and consume art. America’s copyright laws have ceased to perform their original, beneficial role: protecting artists’ creations while allowing them to build on previous creative works. In fact, our system now criminalizes those very actions.

For many, new technologies have made it irresistible to flout these unreasonable and ultimately untenable laws. Some of today’s most talented artists are felons, and so are our kids, who see no reason why they shouldn’t do what their computers and the Web let them do, from burning a copyrighted CD for a friend to “biting” riffs from films, videos, songs, etc and making new art from them.

Criminalizing our children and others is exactly what our society should not do, and Lessig shows how we can and must end this conflict—a war as ill conceived and unwinnable as the war on drugs. By embracing “read-write culture,” which allows its users to create art as readily as they consume it, we can ensure that creators get the support—artistic, commercial, and ethical—that they deserve and need. Indeed, we can already see glimmers of a new hybrid economy that combines the profit motives of traditional business with the “sharing economy” evident in such Web sites as Wikipedia and YouTube. The hybrid economy will become ever more prominent in every creative realm—from news to music—and Lessig shows how we can and should use it to benefit those who make and consume culture.

Remix is an urgent, eloquent plea to end a war that harms our children and other intrepid creative users of new technologies. It also offers an inspiring vision of the post-war world where enormous opportunities await those who view art as a resource to be shared openly rather than a commodity to be hoarded.

2009 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market

Editors of Writers Digest Books

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Editorial Review:

Includes over 1,500 markets that exhibit and/or buy artwork; each listing Since 1975, Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market has been the most complete resource for fine artists, illustrators, designers and cartoonists who want to show and sell their work. This essential guide gives creatives completely updated contact and submission information for more than 1,500 art markets such as greeting card companies, magazine and book publishers, galleries, art fairs, ad agencies and more. Informative interviews with successful artists and art buyers offer advice on how to make contacts and succeed in the competitive art industry. Readers will also discover valuable resources for obtaining grants, marketing and promoting their work, and networking with fellow artists.

How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist, 5th ed.: Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul

Caroll Michels

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Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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The classic handbook for launching and sustaining a career that "explodes the romantic notion of the starving artist", with new and expanded resources for succeeding in the burgeoning Internet art market (The New York Times)

Now in its fifth edition, with over 85,000 copies of previous editions sold, How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist is the preeminent guide to taking control of your career and making a good living in the art world. Drawing on over two decades of experience, Caroll Michels walks artists through the complicated process of balancing grants, gallery representation, private dealer sales, and a personal studio to ensure a public profile and a steady income. Included is a wealth of insider's information on getting into a gallery, being your own PR agent, and negotiating prices, as well as innovative marketing, exhibition, and sales opportunities for various art disciplines.

The new edition is fully updated with strategies for using the Web—everything from generating income through freelance work, to creating an entrepreneurial web site for promoting work to agents and clients, to assessing online galleries. An expanded and updated appendix adds more than 200 new resources such as Web designers, insurance and legal services for artists, internships, art colonies, and corporate and public art programs.

I'd Rather Be in the Studio!

Alyson B. Stanfield

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Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

I'd Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist's No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion offers practical approaches that help you sell more art and build an art career that lasts. Alyson B. Stanfield, the art-marketing guru behind ArtBizCoach.com, shares self-promotion tools that have enhanced the careers of thousands of artists. You'll learn how to: (1) Introduce yourself as an artist so people want to know more; (2) Nail your artist statement to discover the right words for all of your marketing messages; (3) Expand your mailing list and use it to cultivate collectors; (4) Create marketing materials that outshine the competition; (5) Become a media magnet so buyers come to you; (6) Take advantage of your Web site and blog to build a bigger audience; and much more. It would be great if there were a precise formula for getting your art into galleries, museums and private collections. But every artist's path is different. That's why I'd Rather Be in the Studio! provides easy-to-follow self-promotion practices that help you find your way at any point in your career. Match Internet marketing strategies with sincere personal skills to take charge of your career.

The Business Side of Creativity: The Complete Guide to Running a Small Graphic Design or Communications Business, Third Updated Edition

Cameron S. Foote

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The freelance designer's bible—a step-by-step guide to successful self-employment.

Hailed by one reviewer as the creative business "bible," and considered the authoritative book on the subject for over ten years, The Business Side of Creativity is back, updated and revised to include even more invaluable facts, tips, strategies, and advice for beginning creatives.

Every year the market for creative services expands-but the competition is increasing even faster. Today, success hinges not on talent alone, but on a thorough understanding of the business side of creativity.

The Business Side of Creativity is the most comprehensive business companion available to freelance graphic designers, art directors, illustrators, copywriters, and agency or design-shop principals. Cameron S. Foote, a successful entrepreneur and editor of the Creative Business newsletter, guides you step-by-step through the process of being successfully self-employed-from getting launched as a freelancer to running a multiperson shop to retiring comfortably, and everything in between. Sample business forms and documents to help put the information into practice are included in the appendixes, and are available for downloading online.

How should you organize? What should you charge? What marketing techniques yield the best returns? How do you know when it's right to expand? What are the most effective strategies for managing employees? How can you build salable equity? The Business Side of Creativity delves into these questions and hundreds more-and gives you practical, real-world answers and invaluable expert advice.

From launching yourself as a freelancer and managing a multi-person firm to marketing your services and retiring comfortably, this book is a one-stop resource for all creative service professionals on how to run a smooth, effective, and lucrative business. Useful forms and sample business plans are included. 25 illustrations.

The Interior Designers Guide to Pricing Estimating and Budgeting

Theo Stephan Williams

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Tool! 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a fabulous book for anyone in the industry, it is realistic, informative and motivating!

Avoid costly mistakes, learn from William's experience 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I wish I had come across this book earlier! Then we would not have made the mistakes that we did. Williams is very right. What she experienced in America is the same as our experiences here in Malaysia. There's a wealth of knowledge to learn here and this knowledge is adaptable anywhere and in every situation. Already 8 years in this business, we are still learning and growing with this book!

Great Guide 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is a fabulous guide for anyone starting a business. Ms. Williams encourages and guides the new designer to be who he/she wants to be without letting fear stand in his/her way. She also give fabulous advice of do's and don'ts based on her personal experiences. I think this is a book worth reading.

Editorial Review:

Provided here are practical guidelines on how to value the cost of designing commercial or residential interiors. From the designer's creative input to the pricing of decorating products and procedures, this guide allows interior designers to establish prices and budgets that satisfy their clients and make their business profitable. Interviews with experienced interior designers, case studies, and sidebars of projects highlight professional pitfalls and how to master them.

Art Marketing 101, Third Edition: A Handbook for the Fine Artist (Art Marketing 101: A Handbook for the Fine Artist)

Constance Smith

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Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Artists need help with the business side of their career, and this 302-page, twenty-one-chapter volume answers all the questions they could have. Ultimately, it guides artists to create both a long- and short-term marketing plan so they can become independent businesspeople. It educates them to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace, honing their business skills and knowledge of their legal rights.

Artists will learn about: overcoming roadblocks, the secrets of successful artists, alternative avenues for selling art, building name recognition, sales and publicity tactics, pricing artwork, planning an exhibition, creating a beautiful portfolio, photographing artwork, the proper way to contact a gallery, succeeding without a rep, promotion, maximizing value, and much more.

Constance Smith began her career as an art rep in California. She has been assisting artists nationwide for over twenty years. She is co-author of Art Office and Internet 101.