This book is the most accurate representation of the art world that I have ever read. Sarah Thorton has a keen eye, a sharp intellect, and an objective stance. I read The 12 Million Dollar Shark just before this, and was put off by the judgmental tone and subjective treatment of some artists (Warhol in particular). This book was a sharp contrast to 12 Million, even though both books cover many of the same subjects. Her ethnographic approach allows her to write about the art world with such nuanced detail that I found myself nodding my head again and again in recognition. I used this for my graduate level "book club", it's a fantastic primer on the complexity of the art world, and I highly recommend it.

Sarah Thorton does a remarkable of job giving you a front row seat to the greatest show on earth as well as exposure to the often cynical belly of the beast. A great read for any artist who feels out of touch with what is considered the upper echelon of the art world. I would not say it's an inspirational piece of work but undoubtedly interesting from chapter to chapter.

A fast fun read that cleared up some questions I have had about what is going on in today's contemporary art scene.

The dust jacket illustration on the hard cover edition of Seven Days in the Art World says it all about the reality of the contemporary art world and what to expect from author Sarah Thornton. You see a slice of a scene from a gallery or museum: a corner of one room, a doorway into another, a woman's leg in a stylish shoe, and, presumably, a miniskirt at the top end of the leg we cannot see because the rest of the body is disappearing into the next room. You don't see any art; it must be just beyond in either direction. Mostly what you see are the ultra sophisticated plain white walls and shiny wood floors we associate with high-end exhibition spaces. In one corner of this space, you see the edge of a fender made of white pipe, probably to keep the public from getting too close to what is displayed on the wall. You are following that leg, though you have no idea where or to what it will lead you.

The world that the stylish, youngish Ms. Thornton reveals in seven slice-of-life sketches does float above the rest of us in a rarified atmosphere. As she defines it, those who shape this world are dealers, curators, auction house brokers, collectors, critics and - this seems almost incidental in some of the chapters - artists. Each of the days of her ethnographic study is spent a different subculture--the auction house, the post-studio critique at CalArts, the Swiss art fair, the Turner Prize finals, the offices of ArtForum magazine, Takashi Murakami's corporation-like studios and the Venice Biennale. Thornton's information comes largely from interviews with the players, snatches of overheard conversations and quick sketches of the milieu she portrays as it unfolds across the day. This is a world that zings with passion and commitment to art and struggles hugely with defining it, well aware of the power the players wield in doing so. The engine is fueled by the wealthy of the wealthiest in many countries for whom art is a matter of desire, prestige and investment. Provenance matters.

Thornton obviously relishes her privileged access to this exclusive world. She reminds me of a broadcaster covering an elite golf tournament, speaking in hushed tones to her audience so as to not disturb the players. She gathered her material between 2004 and 2007 very aware that the contemporary art world was enjoying an unprecedented boom era but she never once considers if it could come to an end. One has to wonder how the past year and a half of failed economies has affected her subjects.

My daughter bought this book but was so busy with her own sculpture work that she didn't have time to read it and when she saw that I was interested in it, she loaned it to me to read first. I'd been thumbing through the volume reading bits here and there so I accepted my daughter's offer to borrow the book. It was not only a nice jester on her part, but I very much enjoyed the book. That surprised me. The blurb on the book cover described the book as "A fly-on-the-wall account of the sophisticated subcultures that make, trade, curate, collect and promote contemporary art." That was a decent summation of the volume that is actually seven stories tied together. The first chapter "The Auction" most attracted my attention so I began there. With this book the reader can start with whatever chapter most appeals to them because they are all complete within themselves. Having been to some minor mid-priced art auctions the subject wasn't unfamiliar to me. What was different about this Christie's Art Auction was the character portraits of the various parties involved in the sale. The skillful auctioneer (Christopher Burge), the sales representatives, the media, and of course the collectors were each portrayed individually and as they interacted. By the time the auction had begun the auctioneer had a decent idea of who was going to buy which offerings. The only doubt was how much the work would go for and if another interested party either at the auction or one the phone bidders with his art representative would attempt to outbid the most likely buyers. The reader feels like they were there at the auction because of the writer's skill.
Probably this reader's biggest surprise came from the second chapter "The Crit." I really didn't think I'd want to read more than a few pages of it, but I was oh so wrong. It was fascinating and had a very surreal feeling about it. In fact the theory, actual event and even the artists involved in this crit were all a bit surreal even for artists living and working in LA.
The other chapters in the book were "The Fair, The Prize, The Magazine, The Studio Visit" and "The Biennale." Each of those chapters would make an interesting magazine article that would stand alone. They were all fun. They all supplied fascinating information and introduced new characters. As an amateur collector I learned about an entire new universe of contemporary art and was introduced to some amazing and colorful collectors. Many of the major International sales such as the Biennale that is held in Venice, Italy were completely new to me. I suspect that even collectors with much more experience and knowledge than this reviewer would find the book interesting even if it were just to see what was written about them. The drive to collect is much the same among all collectors it's just that in this book the prices, and hopefully the quality of the art, is right up there where the collector's private jets fly. Art collecting has become very fashionable for the super-wealthy. Many of them spend most of their free time secretly traveling around the world seeking to add to their collections without some of their competitors knowing what they are about. Like fighters in a ring or poker players around the gambling table they carefully conceal their thoughts and feign moves to distract other potential buyers of the work they are interested in buying. Sometime a collector couple will come halfway around the world to the show or fair and deliberately not look at the actual piece they are plotting to acquire. They have thoroughly researched it in advance. Most of these collectors know each other, but business is business and there will be plenty of time to socialize after all the deals are completed.
It was interesting to learn some of the reasons that the price of art, even that of living, contemporary artists, has reached such heights. It was an eye-opening experience to discover how many different types of galleries there are and why just being selected for representation by certain primary galleries can immediately double the market price of an artist's work. This is very well written. It's not an easy subject to bring to life for the typical audience who knows little about art. They will know a lot more once they have read this book. More importantly, they will have a clue to what they don't know.