Seven Days In The Art World Summary

Superior Essays
Book Review 1: Seven Days In The Art World

In the mysterious, capricious and status-obsessed art market, six distinct insiders—artists, dealers, curators, critics, collectors and auction-house experts—are keeping dynamic balance with each other and being a relatively excluded group that is fraught with unknown secrets. As a non-fiction book that to some extent, pry into the secrets in art market, Sarah Thornton’s Seven Days in the Art World offers up a tale of what happens at the height of a cultural moment and the exuberance of an over-expand market. Through my reading, there are several aspects I take away from the book, which make it outstanding and also result to some limitations.

Structure and language In the book Seven Days in the Art World, Thornton dished up seven different " day-in-the-life" case studies in the contemporary art world: a Christie 's auction, art school seminar at Cal Arts, a day at Artforum, a visit to Takashi Murakami 's studio, the Art Fair in Basel, and the Turner Prize. She cleverly divided the book into these seven day-in-the-life chapters and also captured the subtle power dynamics that activate each of these
…show more content…
In the one hand, most of the people Thornton interviewed were inevitably circumspect about what they say to her. For instance, the Rubells family who has a twenty-seven-room museum to display their family collections didn’t let her shadow them through Art Basel: “That’s like asking to come into our bedroom.” Same in this chapter, Jeff Poe, a dealer of Blum & Poe gallery, refused to tell Thornton who finally brought that Takashi Murakami’s exquisitely crafted three-panel painting that captured full attention in the fair. On the other hand, as a member of the art world, Thornton keeps close relationship with the art community, which might result to get bogged down in subjectivity and fact

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Significant personal events in one’s life can act to influence an individual’s artmaking practice. This is evident through Frida Kahlo’s artwork ‘The Broken Column’ 1944, Jenny Sages ‘After Jack’ 2012 and Christian Thompson ‘King Billy’ 2010. Frida Kahlo, is the first example of such an individual as she experienced a horrible accident causing permanent damage to her spine. As a result of the accident, Kahlo became influenced to paint through using her emotion as a driving force to paint where Kahlo states “I am broken, but I am happy as long as I can paint”. This is depicted in Kahlo’s artwork ‘The Broken Column’ in plate 4 which depicts a figure namely Kahlo herself being pricked by nails with the presence of a broken pillar.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Today, many like Karen Armstrong, acknowledge the significant role art plays in a community. Throughout her essay, Homo Religiosus, she argues that art, much like religion, has the capability to allow one to temporarily forget and transcend their daily struggles, and rather focus on an ideal future. Maggie Nelson’s essay, Great to Watch, questions how society relates to the world and through what can we do so. Nelson opens her text with a discussion of Sister Helen Prejean, who proposes in her memoir, Dead Man Walking, ignorance was a major obstacle that paused social and moral progress. Prejean was convinced that exposure to a world crisis will inspire others to help make change.…

    • 1649 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As the only visual artist who made Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People list in 2008, Takashi Murakami is one of the most conspicuous and popular Japanese artists working today. He has long been a superstar in the global art world since his emergence in the early 1990s, and is often touted as “the Warhol of Japan.” He has built up a rich body of work, ranging from paintings and sculptures to huge inflatable balloons and factory-produced merchandise. His bright-colored, anime inspired style makes these pieces instantly recognizable. As a result, these works are not only well received in the public venues but also commercially successful at auction and retail markets.…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Art is all around us, no matter where we go or what we do, there will always be a form of art that is nearby, and as a result of this, art has become one of the most significant aspects of a person’s daily life. In a sense, art is quite like water. It is something that is physical, but the changes that it can embody or bring forth are just like the formlessness of water. Art has become something more than just a work that should be admired, but rather, it has become a medium of speech for the ones that create it. In Dorothy Allison’s “This is Our World”, multiple anecdotes are used to allow the reader to better understand art.…

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Thornton Dial Symbols

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Thornton Dial was an innovative artist who incorporated found objects such as trash and common household items in his pieces. His work often explored dark themes, ranging from war to racism to homelessness. Having grown up in poverty in Emelle, Alabama, Thornton did attend art school; therefore, he was often dismissed by his peers as an outsider or folk artist. Although his circumstances growing up may have prevented him from receiving formal training, I think that Thornton Dial’s experiences in poverty may have enriched his art. He learned how to make the most out of whatever materials that he could find, possibly because he could not afford to buy art materials.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nerman Museum

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Over Thanksgiving break I went with my family to the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art which is located at Johnson County Community College. The Nerman Museum has a variety of pieces created from different mediums including: clay, painting, photography, sculpture and drawing to name a few. I spent most of my time looking at an exhibit the museum has through March of 2017, called “Domestic Seen.” While many of the pieces included in this exhibit are very simple, they are meant convey perceptions of different life experiences like wealth, women, celebrities, and children just to name a few. In doing so, viewers may be able to see different depictions of their lives.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ashley Newlon | Art Education 1600 | Autumn 2015 | Smith | Art Paper Rod Gilbert, Andy Warhol, and The Athlete Series Andy Warhol’s painting’s, the Athletes series, is famously known, but can be complicated to decipher. On Friday, November 20th, I was lucky enough to make a visit to the Columbus Museum of Art. With only five minutes to spare after repeatedly getting lost and begging the security guard to let me in I was able to experience my first time attending an art exhibit. With only a short period of time to let everything sink in I came across a few portraits that caught my eye.…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hickory Museum Of Art

    • 1413 Words
    • 6 Pages

    McCurry is a photojournalist. When his work is placed in an art museum, the formal elements and visual attraction of his work outstrip the cultural meanings…

    • 1413 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Art Analysis: You Go Girl

    • 1270 Words
    • 5 Pages

    History of Art During my visit at Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, I came across several modern and contemporary artists. At the time of my visit the museum displayed different pieces created by women artists, they called this, “You Go Girl!” exhibit. While viewing these works I viewed different artists with different pieces but similar themes. Each artist used their art to convey issues or their feelings using different techniques.…

    • 1270 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Real Artists Have Day Jobs (and Other Awesome Things They Don’t Teach You in School) is a collection of 52 luminous essays – in other words, this book contains 52 awesome moments to say, “Wow, this book really gets me.” Sara Benincasa knows a thing or two about uncertainty, anxiety, and all those lovely little nightmares that come with being in your twenties. Even better, this isn’t a ‘self-help’ book so much as a ‘nobody knows what they’re doing and it’s okay’ book. Wisdom comes from experience, and Sara Benincasa has plenty to share.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Context In Art

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Within the world of contemporary art, an issue that often presents itself is the issue of context. In many cases such as the one I will present in this essay, the idea of understanding and appreciating a piece of work is often quite difficult without the back-story. Not only does context place the work in time, but also allows us as viewers to further relate our own experiences to what the artist is trying to say. This process of obtaining context through research therefore allows for a deeper appreciation of the given work despite our initial assumptions and bias.…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this paper, you will learn about three artworks and artists that can be found in the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. There are many different types of artists. For example, animation art, calligraphy, computer art, drawings, folk art, mosaic art, and the list can go on and on. These three specific artists are all different in many ways. By the style of art they worked with, their background information, also, their own perspective of what art means to them.…

    • 251 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop” depicts the transformation of a family man obsessed with filming every waking moment, Thierry Guetta, into a self-absorbed and self-proclaimed artist, Mr. Brainwash. In capturing this man’s journey, the documentary brings to light two significant issues in the world of art. The first being the use of assistants to create artwork and the second being the instantaneous success of an artist; whom without the endorsements of already renowned and respected street artists would have never amounted to anything noteworthy. For generations, the use of assistants to create artwork has been an imperative asset to several notorious artists, including Mr. Brainwash.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I am going to begin this essay with a heartfelt apology. I wanted to get this out of the way because this is going to be a very opinionated essay, comparable to that found within the last two pages of the online reading Art Without Boundaries. Unlike the aforementioned reading, I do not believe art has cultural boundaries. Neither in the past and especially not in today’s multi-culturally embracing society.…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For people to appreciate and participate in the making of art, they must be aware of common understandings and values for them to understand art. Therefore. art work is not considered to be created from an individual artist, it is an embedded process that involves many actors for it to exist (Howard, 1982, p. 35). In terms of the relationship between the art world, culture and tourism, they also rely on each other to thrive. There is no distinct line or boundary between the art world and the rest of society.…

    • 890 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics