Hot Topics in the Art World – serie

The private collector’s museum has become a phenomenon of the 21st century. There are some 400 of them around the world, and an astonishing 70% of those devoted to contemporary art were founded in the past 20 years. Although private museums have been accused of being tax-evading vanity projects or ‘tombs for trophies’, the picture is far more complex and nuanced, as art-market journalist Georgina Adam (author of best-selling Big Bucks and Dark Side of the Boom) shows in her compelling new book.Georgina Adam’s investigation into this extraordinary proliferation, based on her recent visits to over 50 private spaces across the US, Europe, China and elsewhere, delves into the reasons behind this boom, the different motivations of collectors to display their art in public, and the various ways in which the institutions are financed. Private museums can add greatly to the cultural life of a community, giving a platform to emerging artists, supplying educational programmes and revitalising declining or neglected regions. But their relationship with public institutions can also be problematic. Should private museums step in to fill a gap left by declining public investment in culture, and what are the implications for society and the arts? At a time of crisis in the museums sector, this book is an essential and thought-provoking read.

CuratingArt Now is a timely reflection on the practice of curating and the role ofthe art curator during a period of rapid change. Curating has a pivotalposition in the art world: it is embedded in the identity and expertise ofthe museum and plays an ever-increasing role in the commercial art sectortoo. Current curatorial practice encompasses a wide range of activities, fromthe care of collections in museums to the presentation of large-scalecontemporary biennials, and from collaboration with artists to presentationsof work on digital platforms. Curating has grownsubstantially in the last decades, and in the early 2020s is undergoing asignificant period of transition as it grapples with some fundamentalquestions. How diverse and inclusive is curating as a profession, and howdoes that inform the art and artists who come to prominence? How possible isit to conduct exploratory and inclusive curatorial work in the challengingeconomic climate of the early 2020s? What is the extent of a curator’sautonomy within the various institutions and structures in which they work,and what power dynamics are at work between artists and curators? Finally,how might digital art and exhibition-making give way to hybrid forms ofpractice, and even challenge the face of traditional curating? LilianCameron’s lively review addresses all of these issues, and considers thefuture landscape of curating in an uncertain world.

In just half a century of growth, the art fair industry has transformed the art market. Now, for the first time, art market journalist Melanie Gerlis tells the story of art fairs' rapid ascent and reflects on their uncertain future. From the first post-war European art fairs built on the imperial 19th-century model of the International Exhibitions, to the global art fairs of the 21st century and their new online manifestations, it's a tale of many twists and turns.The book brings to life the people, places and philosophies that enabled art fairs to take root, examines the pivotal market periods when they flourished, and maps where they might go in a much-changed world.

Debates about the restitution of cultural objects have been ongoing for many decades, but have acquired a new urgency recently with the intensification of scrutiny of European museum collections acquired in the colonial period. Alexander Herman’s fascinating and accessible book provides an up-to-date overview of the restitution debate with reference to a wide range of current controversies. This is a book about the return of cultural treasures: why it is demanded, how it is negotiated and where it might lead. The uneven relationships of the past have meant that some of the greatest treasures of the world currently reside in places far removed from where they were initially created and used. Today we are witnessing the ardent attempts to put right those past wrongs: a light has begun to shine on the items looted from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the  Americas and the Pacific, and the scales of history, according to some, are in need of significant realignment.This debate forces us to confront an often dark history, and the difficult application of our contemporary conceptions of justice to instances from the past. Should we allow plundered artefacts to rest where they lie – often residing there by the imbalances of history? This book asks whether we are entering a new 'restitution paradigm', one that could have an indelible impact on the cultural sector - and the rest of the world - for many years to come. It provides essential reading for all those working in the art and museum worlds and beyond.

Censored Art Today is an accessible, informed analysis of the debates raging around censorship of art andso-called ‘cancel culture’, focusing on who the censors are and why they areclamping down on forms of artistic expression worldwide. Art censorship is acenturies-old issue which appears to be on the rise in the 21st century - why is this the case?Gareth Harris expertly analyses the different contexts in which artists, museums and curators face restrictions today, investigating political censorship in China, Cuba and the Middle East; the suppression of LGBTQ+ artists in 'illiberal democracies'; the algorithms policing art online; Western museums and 'cancel culture'; and the narratives around 'problematic' monuments. His fascinating study, which draws on extensive research and interviews, reveals why censorship has become the hottest oftopics, impacting substantially on artists.

Arts philanthropy is at a crucial moment: many arts organisations are facing a financial crisis, the 2020-21 Covid-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of existing funding structures, and various social initiatives and causes have thrown renewed focus on how the arts are funded. Around the world, a new generation of philanthropists is emerging with different motivations and priorities. This book offers an open and wide-ranging exploration of philanthropy in the arts from the perspectives of both the donors and the recipients, seeking to improve understanding on both sides, and asks what the future holds for arts philanthropy given the rapidly changing landscape. It provides an essential guide for collectors, philanthropists and patrons, as well as art-market and museum professionals, on the peculiarities of giving and taking in the arts sector.

Written by an art advisor and former gallerist with an insider’s perspective, this book provides a timely overview of the commercial-gallery sector at a moment of rapid change and expansion. More than any participant in the art market, galleries are seen as mysterious actors with an opaque code of conduct. This book offers a fascinating view of the gallery ecosystem, presenting a systematic diagnosis of key challenges and opportunities facing the sector today.Henry Little discusses the integration of bricks and clicks, addressing the tension between a gallery’s physical premises and its online presence, further asking how the world’s largest galleries have pulled so far ahead both in terms of their physical expansion and their digital offering. In an industry which increasingly rewards consolidation and brand recognition, the book asks how small and mid-tier galleries can hold their own and whether the traditional gallery model may be under threat in an increasingly digital future.

This accessible new book offers a fresh view of art auctions, exploring their multifaceted role in today’s international art market and their transformation into spectacular theatres of the contemporary art world. From glittering black-tie events to the anonymity of the digital realm, auctions stage the creation of value and can make or break artists’ careers. They are a strange phenomenon: relics from the 18th century which remain at the heart of the art market.And yet art auctions have undergone huge change in the past decades, adapting to online formats, encroaching on territory which was once the preserve of galleries, and expanding ruthlessly into new regions and categories. Kathryn Brown's incisive new survey assesses the ongoing relevance of auctions to contemporary art markets and discusses the opportunities, controversies and conflicts of value to which they give rise.

Art in Saudi Arabia spotlights the role that contemporary art will play in the country’s new push for sweeping internal reform and cultural diplomacy. As the Kingdom mobilizes its vast resources behind the economic and social priorities of its Vision 2030 strategy and simultaneously seeks new terms of engagement with the international community, art is set to take centre stage and a barrage of planned events, installations, public projects, biennales and museum openings is beginning to draw in many from the international art community. This book looks at both the historic and contemporary contexts for this recent state-led focus on art in the Kingdom; at how its planned events and programs stand apart, in resource, scale and ambition, from seemingly similar initiatives coming from that region; and at both the opportunities and pitfalls, not just for the burgeoning art world of Saudi Arabia, but for practitioners and professionals around the world.

The Art Institution of Tomorrow is a unique manifesto for raising the standard of institutional practices across the world. It suggests that existing art institutions are not equipped to deal with the radical social, economic and environmental change we are living through and engage with advancement in the arts, and that unless they re-focus on their core purpose and fundamentally transform their organisational structure and operational models, they will start to lose their relevance and influence.Built on an extensive study of non-profit visual-arts organisations and the creative industries at large, and incorporating interviews with institutional leaders from throughout the sector, the book expresses a clear outline of change that art institutions will need to undergo in order to maintain their relevance for generations to come.

Art in Hong Kong is a fascinating analysis of the history, current status and possible future of Hong Kong as an international art hub, written by a local journalist who has reported on the city’s cultural landscape for many years. Enid Tsui presents a balanced and insightful picture of recent changes in the city which was once the poster-child of artistic freedom in Asia as well as the undisputed leader of the region's booming contemporary-art market. Some of Hong Kong's traditional advantages now look precarious following new laws imposed by China curbing freedom of expression and the city's long period of isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet despite the exodus of talent from Hong Kong and growing uncertainties over the 'red lines' of censorship, there are more world-class art institutions in the city than ever before and the market has proved resilient, with international auction houses and galleries continuing to expand their presence there.This book lifts the lid on a diverse art scene in a city of fascinating contradictions: a former British colony where artists have long been inspired by the interplay between east and west, and where the new M+ museum and other venues have to tread a tightrope between celebrating a distinct and vibrant culture based on different influences and abiding by the new national security regime.

AI and the Art Market is the first book to offer an approachable introduction to AI for art-market professionals, considering AI’s impact on and possible applications within the art world, whether as a business tool or as an artistic medium. The two primary topics of how AI is affecting the art market, and the growing market for AI art, are united under the broad theme of how art-market professionals can be better equipped to work with AI in an art-world context, as relative novices.The book addresses questions like: Can AI benefit your business? How can you best support artists working with AI and approach selling their work? What risks should you be aware of, and how can you distinguish between truly cutting-edge innovation and outlandish, unsubstantiated claims about AI? More broadly, how/is AI reshaping practices within the art market and what cultural changes should we be prepared for in the long term?AI and the Art Market puts forward a balanced overview of this increasingly Hot Topic, considering the benefits of AI while never shying away from its ethical complications and practical limitations.

Museums are under fire currently from all quarters on account of a wide range of ethical issues, from their association with morally dubious regimes to the questionable provenance of objects in their collections and the perceived lack of inclusivity of their exhibitions. This book examines why the art museum has become a focus for society’s ethical concerns in the 21st century, whether it is ever possible for a museum to be a neutral space, and what a policy framework for a more ethical museum could look like.Gareth Harris's compelling and balanced analysis draws on interviews with museum leaders and a wide range of visual-arts professionals in the UK, Europe and the US.  It considers examples of best practice in a sector which is struggling to balance increased ethical demands with an often perilous financial situation in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Annabel Keenan's timely and urgent book reviews the work that has been undertaken to date to create a more sustainable art world and proposes the next steps in system-wide change. It identifies the main sustainability issues for the art industry, arguing that artists and art activists have led the way in creating awareness of climate change, and evaluates progress to date on climate-action commitments by the various sectors of the art world, offering examples of best practice.Uncompromising in its messages, Climate Action in the Art World is essential reading for all art professionals, from artists to curators to art handlers, as well as for anyone seeking an accessible entry-point to a topic which is unfortunately only getting (literally) hotter.

An incisive survey from bestselling art-market commentator Georgina Adam of the changing landscape of art collecting as a younger generation of collectors disrupts the status quo. Drawing on new interviews with collectors and art-market specialists internationally, Adam examines how changes in collecting trends are being driven by generational shifts in the sources of wealth, as well as the changing tastes, different motivations and new modes of acquiring art of Millennial and Gen Z collectors compared to older generations. What does all this mean for the future of art collecting and of the art market?This is the first book to focus on the tastes and buying patterns of a new group of dynamic and Influential collectors, most of them still under 50, who are shaping the art market today. This group is younger than previous generations of collectors, with much of their wealth being self-made. Many of them will also benefit in the coming decades from the Great Wealth Transfer, which could see in the region of $72 trillion pass to Gen Z and Millennials. Their art purchases may well be conducted online, via channels which cut out the traditional art-market institutions. They are also more likely than previous generations to be based outside the traditional art centres of the US and EU, with China and the Middle East both seeing a growth in young collectors. These trends are likely to have a profound impact on the ways in which art is bought and sold, as Georgina Adam describes with clarity and insight.

The development of blockchain technology over the last decade has had a far-reaching impact on the creation, ownership and trading of artwork, especially digital art. In an accessibly written text aimed at a broad audience of art-world readers, Valérie C. Whitacre demonstrates how the blockchain (a decentralised, distributed and public digital ledger used to permanently record transactions) continues to revolutionise our understanding of what can be considered a work of art as well as how art can be traded and consumed. Tracing the heritage of so-called ‘Crypto Art' (digital art recorded on the blockchain) to earlier fine-art movements such as Fluxus, Conceptual art, photography and performance, the book shows that different collecting and ownership tools (such as the Certificate of Authenticity) were already established prior to the invention of the blockchain.The breakthrough achieved by blockchain technology, via NFTs (non-fungible tokens), lies both in its power to verify the authenticity, ownership, provenance and value of digital artwork and as a medium on which digital art might be transcribed. Moreover, innovators have begun creating solutions for the technology to further enable the same possibilities for the verification and valuation of physical pieces, challenging some of the most basic precepts of the traditional art market.This book provides insight and inspiration for those working both inside and outside the Crypto Art community, drawing on the innovations of creators, curators and institutions testing the boundaries of the technology.