內容簡介
內容簡介 藝術鑑賞大師Philip Hook揭露藝術買賣的真實樣貌完整呈現藝品商光輝、狡詐、貪婪和勇於冒險的歷史故事Philip Hook在藝術鑑賞從業超過30年，曾在倫敦佳士德和蘇富比拍賣工作過，更是印象派和現代藝術品的專家，對於藝術史及藝品商的工作內容瞭若指掌。他描繪的軼聞風趣且生動，講述過去幾世紀藝品商如何精通十八般武藝，販售藝術品給皇室、貴族、博物館和企業家的故事。藝品買賣一開始從安特衛普開始，當時畫作以秤重的方式出售給傲慢且富有的藝廊，而藝品買賣的奧妙之處，在於如何鑑定無形的東西，再以高價販售給難以抗拒其魅力的人們。為了生活，販售藝術品的人們形形色色，包括裁縫師、間諜、無政府反抗者、貴族和真正的行家，每一場買賣都隱藏著貪婪，對於藝術價值的堅持及信仰，還有純粹對藝術交易成功的偉大慾望。內容提及的人物包括印象派創立人Paul Durand-Ruel；首位讓現代主義受到矚目的Herwath Walden；立體派藝術的第一把交椅Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler；抽象表現主義和普普藝術的最佳代表人Leo Castelli；當然還有一手打造蘇富比拍賣公司王國的Peter Wilson等。Philip Hook以風趣及幽默的文筆帶領讀者穿梭藝術史，一窺人性愚蠢、貪婪和表裡不一的弱點，又穿插著無限的創造力和靈感。 Philip Hook takes the lid off the world of art dealing to reveal the brilliance, cunning, greed and daring of its practitioners. In a richly anecdotal narrative he describes the rise and occasional fall of the extraordinary men and women who over the centuries have made it their business to sell art to kings, merchants, nobles, entrepreneurs and museums.From its beginnings in Antwerp, where paintings were sometimes sold by weight, to the rich hauteur of the contemporary gallery in London, Paris and New York, art dealing has been about identifying what is intangible but infinitely desirable, and then finding clients for whom it is irresistible. Those who have purveyed art for a living range from tailors, spies and the occasional anarchist to scholars, aristocrats, merchants and connoisseurs, each variously motivated by greed, belief in their own vision of art and its history, or simply the will to win.The cast of characters includes Paul Durand-Ruel, the Impressionists' champion; Herwath Walden, who first brought Modernism into the limelight; Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, high priest of Cubism; Leo Castelli, dealer-midwife to Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art; and Peter Wilson, the charismatic Sotheby's chairman who made the auction room theatre.Philip Hook's history is one of human folly, greed and duplicity, interspersed with ingenuity, inspiration and acts of heroism. Rogues' Gallery is learned, witty and irresistibly readable.
