[audiobook] The Crucible: Revised Edition (Critical Library; Viking) by Arthur Miller at Arts-Photography

Description

How did the United States become not only the leading contemporary art scene in the world; but also the leading market for art? The answer has to do not only with the talents of American artists or even the size of the American economy; but also--and especially--the skills and entrepreneurship of American art dealers. Their story has not been told...until now.Landscape with Figures is the first history of art dealing in the United States; following the profession from eighteenth-century portrait and picture salesmen in the colonies to the high-profile; jet-set gallery owners of today. Providing anecdotal and carefully researched biographies of the prominent dealers from more than two centuries of trade; author Malcolm Goldstein shows how magnanimous personalities and social networking helped to shape the way Americans have bought and valued art. These dealers range from Michael Paff; whose enthusiasm often overshadowed his expertise but nonetheless helped him sell faux Old Master paintings to major collectors in the early nineteenth century; to the imperious Joseph Duveen; dealer to magnates like Henry Clay Frick; to visionary Leo Castelli; who helped to usher in a revolution in modern art during the 1960s by showing such avant-garde artists as Jasper Johns; Robert Rauschenberg; and Andy Warhol. Goldstein also shows that the American art trade; while male-dominated; has been galvanized by female dealers; including the inimitable Edith Gregor Halpert; Peggy Guggenheim; and Mary Boone. Their fascinating stories unfold in the context of world art history; the rise of major art institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum; and the growing zeal of art collectors who would eventually pay millions for individual works of art.Unprecedented and critical to understanding todays art world; Landscape with Figures is a must for artists; art history students; and art lovers.