The Art Dealers: The Powers Behind the Scene Tell How the Art World Works

The Art Dealers sheds new light on what people in the business of art do, what skills they rely on, and how dealers have changed modern ideas of what art is. Major figures from the past five decades of art dealership speak out in this collection of in-depth interviews, discussing their relationships with artists and revealing the significant role dealers play in establishing artists' careers. Included are interviews with legends like Betty Parsons, who early on brought the works of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko to the public, and Leo Castelli, who championed Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. Also having their say are more contemporary dealers such as Mary Boone and Annina Nosei, both of whom helped start the careers of Julian Schnabel and Jean Michel Basquiat. The dealers hold forth on their individual enthusiasms for art, the economics and psychology of selling art, the trends the art world has seen since World War II, and much more. The candid interviews reveal gossip, rivalries, and some closely guarded professional secrets.