Within forty-eight hours in the fall of 2014, buyers in the Sotheby's
and Christie's New York auction houses spent $1.7 billion on
contemporary art. Non-taxed freeport warehouses around the globe are
stacked with art held for speculation. One of Jeff Koons' five
chromium-plated stainless steel balloon dogs sold for 50 percent more at
auction than the previous record for any living artist. A painting by
Christopher Wool, featuring four lines from a Francis Ford Coppola movie
stenciled in black-on-a-white background, sold for $28 million. In The
Orange Balloon Dog, economist and bestselling author Don Thompson cites
these and other fascinating examples to explore the sometimes baffling
activities of the high-end contemporary art market. He examines what is
at play in the exchange of vast amounts of money and what nudges buyers,
even on the subconscious level, to imbue a creation with such high
commercial value.
Thompson analyzes the behaviors of buyers and sellers and delves into
the competitions that define and alter the value of art in today's
international market, from New York to London, Singapore to Beijing.
Take heed if your millions are tied up in stainless steel balloon
dogs--Thompson also warns of a looming bust of the contemporary art
price balloon.