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Artists at work : rethinking policy for artistic careers
Woronkowicz, Joanna
Stanford University Press
, 2025
; English
; 174 Pages
Why is it so hard for artists to have stable careers? Written with clarity and grounded in data, Artists at Work offers an eye-opening look at what it truly means to build a career as an artist today. Joanna Woronkowicz examines how artists navigate unique challenges in America's creative economy, from unpredictable job markets to evolving copyright laws and public funding constraints.
Woronkowicz exposes current public policy for artists as patchwork and susceptible to changes in the political climate. Such fragile infrastructure limits artists' ability to build sustainable careers. Remaking this system requires a deeper understanding of creative labor. By shining a light on today's artists-who they are, how they train, and what they do-Woronkowicz emphasizes both that artists are not unlike other workers, and also that policies have not been designed with their unique employment behaviors in mind. This book is a timely and critical guide for anyone invested in supporting the future of the arts, and artists, in America.
Woronkowicz, Joanna
Stanford University Press
, 2025
; English
; 174 Pages
Why is it so hard for artists to have stable careers? Written with clarity and grounded in data, Artists at Work offers an eye-opening look at what it truly means to build a career as an artist today. Joanna Woronkowicz examines how artists navigate unique challenges in America's creative economy, from unpredictable job markets to evolving copyright laws and public funding constraints.
Woronkowicz exposes current public policy for artists as patchwork and susceptible to changes in the political climate. Such fragile infrastructure limits artists' ability to build sustainable careers. Remaking this system requires a deeper understanding of creative labor. By shining a light on today's artists-who they are, how they train, and what they do-Woronkowicz emphasizes both that artists are not unlike other workers, and also that policies have not been designed with their unique employment behaviors in mind. This book is a timely and critical guide for anyone invested in supporting the future of the arts, and artists, in America.
eBook
The forger's creed : reinventing art history in early modern China
Park, J. P.
University of California Press
, 2025
; English
; 236 Pages
The first in-depth look at the history and legacies of forgeries in Chinese art.
In 1634, scholar-official Zhang Taijie (b. ca. 1588) published a book titled A Record of Treasured Paintings (C. Baohui lu), presenting an extensive catalogue of a purportedly vast painting collection he claimed to have built. However, the entire book is Zhang's meticulously crafted forgery
he even forged paintings to match the documentation, and profited from trading them. Furthermore, the book intriguingly mirrors unfounded art-historical claims of its time. Prominent figures like Dong Qichang (1555–1636) made entirely fabricated arguments to assert legitimate lineages in Chinese art, designed to create a fictionalized history shaped by preferred beliefs rather than reality.
While presenting the first comprehensive exploration of various forgery practices in early modern China—fabricated texts, forged paintings, and fictitious art history—The Forger's Creed examines the cultural, social, and genealogical desires, anxieties, and tensions prevalent in early modern China. Through thorough scrutiny of the historical irregularities introduced by these forgeries, J. P. Park highlights a peculiar and paradoxical phenomenon wherein forgeries transform into legitimate materials across Chinese history.
Park, J. P.
University of California Press
, 2025
; English
; 236 Pages
The first in-depth look at the history and legacies of forgeries in Chinese art.
In 1634, scholar-official Zhang Taijie (b. ca. 1588) published a book titled A Record of Treasured Paintings (C. Baohui lu), presenting an extensive catalogue of a purportedly vast painting collection he claimed to have built. However, the entire book is Zhang's meticulously crafted forgery
he even forged paintings to match the documentation, and profited from trading them. Furthermore, the book intriguingly mirrors unfounded art-historical claims of its time. Prominent figures like Dong Qichang (1555–1636) made entirely fabricated arguments to assert legitimate lineages in Chinese art, designed to create a fictionalized history shaped by preferred beliefs rather than reality.
While presenting the first comprehensive exploration of various forgery practices in early modern China—fabricated texts, forged paintings, and fictitious art history—The Forger's Creed examines the cultural, social, and genealogical desires, anxieties, and tensions prevalent in early modern China. Through thorough scrutiny of the historical irregularities introduced by these forgeries, J. P. Park highlights a peculiar and paradoxical phenomenon wherein forgeries transform into legitimate materials across Chinese history.
eBook
Leonardo Da Vinci : the anti-biography
Campbell, Stephen J.
Princeton University Press
, 2025
; English
; 352 Pages
How our image of the Renaissance's most famous artist is a modern myth
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) never signed a painting, and none of his supposed self-portraits can be securely ascribed to his hand. He revealed next to nothing about his life in his extensive writings, yet countless pages have been written about him that assign him an identity: genius, entrepreneur, celebrity artist, outsider. Addressing the ethical stakes involved in studying past lives, Stephen J. Campbell shows how this invented Leonardo has invited speculation from figures ranging from art dealers and curators to scholars, scientists, and biographers, many of whom have filled in the gaps of what can be known of Leonardo's life with claims to decode secrets, reveal mysteries of a vanished past, or discover lost masterpieces of spectacular value.In this original and provocative book, Campbell examines the strangeness of Leonardo's words and works, and the distinctive premodern world of artisans and thinkers from which he emerged. Far from being a solitary genius living ahead of his time, Leonardo inhabited a vibrant network of artistic, technological, and literary exchange. By investigating the politics and cultural tensions of the era as well as the most recent scholarship on Leonardo's contemporaries, workshop, and writings, Campbell places Leonardo back into the milieu that shaped him and was shaped by him. He shows that it is in the gaps and contradictions of what we know of Leonardo's life that a less familiar and far more historically significant figure appears.
Campbell, Stephen J.
Princeton University Press
, 2025
; English
; 352 Pages
How our image of the Renaissance's most famous artist is a modern myth
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) never signed a painting, and none of his supposed self-portraits can be securely ascribed to his hand. He revealed next to nothing about his life in his extensive writings, yet countless pages have been written about him that assign him an identity: genius, entrepreneur, celebrity artist, outsider. Addressing the ethical stakes involved in studying past lives, Stephen J. Campbell shows how this invented Leonardo has invited speculation from figures ranging from art dealers and curators to scholars, scientists, and biographers, many of whom have filled in the gaps of what can be known of Leonardo's life with claims to decode secrets, reveal mysteries of a vanished past, or discover lost masterpieces of spectacular value.In this original and provocative book, Campbell examines the strangeness of Leonardo's words and works, and the distinctive premodern world of artisans and thinkers from which he emerged. Far from being a solitary genius living ahead of his time, Leonardo inhabited a vibrant network of artistic, technological, and literary exchange. By investigating the politics and cultural tensions of the era as well as the most recent scholarship on Leonardo's contemporaries, workshop, and writings, Campbell places Leonardo back into the milieu that shaped him and was shaped by him. He shows that it is in the gaps and contradictions of what we know of Leonardo's life that a less familiar and far more historically significant figure appears.
eBook
The social world of galleries : contemporary art, the market and internationalization
Quemin, Alain; Engelhardt, Keara
Bloomsbury Visual Arts
, 2024
; English
; 473 Pages
This book presents the first detailed study of the place of contemporary art galleries and gallerists, especially within the art markets of Europe and the United States. Based on the author's field research carried out for over a decade, and combining ethnographic material with quantitative data, the book reveals the major role galleries play in the creation of art value.
Despite being pillars of the art market, there has been very little in-depth research on galleries, especially when compared with the analysis of artists, critics, and dealers. Written by a sociologist who has spent a decade as an art critic, the book builds on work conducted by art historian and sociologist Raymonde Moulin from the 1960s to the 1990s. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews with those working in the field today, it provides a thorough and up-to-date analysis of what contemporary art galleries really are: the spaces they occupy both physically and online
their position within gallery 'districts'
their relation to art fairs and biennials
and how friendship with clients is built and trends within the business, in turn illuminating the hierarchized structure of the sector. The book concludes by addressing a significant gap in data on the art market by providing a sociological ranking of international contemporary art galleries.
Offering a detailed analysis to a topic that has never been fully studied, The Social World of Galleries is essential reading for scholars and students of art sociology, art history and art business, as well as gallerists, collectors or art lovers, and artists themselves.
Quemin, Alain; Engelhardt, Keara
Bloomsbury Visual Arts
, 2024
; English
; 473 Pages
This book presents the first detailed study of the place of contemporary art galleries and gallerists, especially within the art markets of Europe and the United States. Based on the author's field research carried out for over a decade, and combining ethnographic material with quantitative data, the book reveals the major role galleries play in the creation of art value.
Despite being pillars of the art market, there has been very little in-depth research on galleries, especially when compared with the analysis of artists, critics, and dealers. Written by a sociologist who has spent a decade as an art critic, the book builds on work conducted by art historian and sociologist Raymonde Moulin from the 1960s to the 1990s. Drawing on ethnographic observations and interviews with those working in the field today, it provides a thorough and up-to-date analysis of what contemporary art galleries really are: the spaces they occupy both physically and online
their position within gallery 'districts'
their relation to art fairs and biennials
and how friendship with clients is built and trends within the business, in turn illuminating the hierarchized structure of the sector. The book concludes by addressing a significant gap in data on the art market by providing a sociological ranking of international contemporary art galleries.
Offering a detailed analysis to a topic that has never been fully studied, The Social World of Galleries is essential reading for scholars and students of art sociology, art history and art business, as well as gallerists, collectors or art lovers, and artists themselves.
eBook
Art monster : on the impossibility of New York
Kosut, Marin
Columbia University Press
, 2024
; English
; 257 Pages
Why do people choose the life of an artist, and what happens when they find themselves barely scraping by? Why does New York City, even in an era of hypergentrification, still beckon to aspiring artists as a place to make art and remake yourself?
Art Monster takes readers to the margins of the professional art world, populated by unseen artists who make a living working behind the scenes in galleries and museums while making their own art to little acclaim. Writing in a style that is by turns direct and poetic, personal and lyrical, Marin Kosut reflects on the experience of dedicating your life to art and how the art world can crush you. She examines the push toward professionalization, the devaluing of artistic labor, and the devastating effects of gentrification on cultural life. Her nonlinear essays are linked by central themes—community, nostalgia, precarity, alienation, estrangement—that punctuate working artists’ lives. The book draws from ten years of fieldwork among artists and Kosut’s own experiences curating and cofounding artist-run spaces in Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Chinatown. At once ethnography, memoir, tirade, and love letter, Art Monster is a street-level meditation on the predicament of artists in the late capitalist metropolis.
Kosut, Marin
Columbia University Press
, 2024
; English
; 257 Pages
Why do people choose the life of an artist, and what happens when they find themselves barely scraping by? Why does New York City, even in an era of hypergentrification, still beckon to aspiring artists as a place to make art and remake yourself?
Art Monster takes readers to the margins of the professional art world, populated by unseen artists who make a living working behind the scenes in galleries and museums while making their own art to little acclaim. Writing in a style that is by turns direct and poetic, personal and lyrical, Marin Kosut reflects on the experience of dedicating your life to art and how the art world can crush you. She examines the push toward professionalization, the devaluing of artistic labor, and the devastating effects of gentrification on cultural life. Her nonlinear essays are linked by central themes—community, nostalgia, precarity, alienation, estrangement—that punctuate working artists’ lives. The book draws from ten years of fieldwork among artists and Kosut’s own experiences curating and cofounding artist-run spaces in Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Chinatown. At once ethnography, memoir, tirade, and love letter, Art Monster is a street-level meditation on the predicament of artists in the late capitalist metropolis.
eBook
Artemisia Gentileschi and the business of art
Marshall, Christopher R.
Princeton University Press
, 2024
; English
; 313 Pages
A new account of the renowned Baroque painter, revealing how her astute professional decisions shaped her career, style, and legacy
Art has long been viewed as a calling—a quasi-religious vocation that drives artists to seek answers to humanity's deepest questions. Yet the art world is a risky, competitive business that requires artists to make strategic decisions, especially if the artist is a woman. In Artemisia Gentileschi and the Business of Art, Christopher Marshall presents a new account of the life, work, and legacy of the Italian Baroque painter, revealing how she built a successful four-decade career in a male-dominated field—and how her business acumen has even influenced the resurrection of her reputation today, when she has been transformed from a footnote of art history to a globally famous artist and feminist icon.
Combining the most recent research with detailed analyses of newly attributed paintings, the book highlights the business considerations behind Gentileschi's development of a trademark style as she marketed herself to the public across a range of Italian artistic centers. The disguised self-portraits in her early Florentine paintings are reevaluated as an effort to make a celebrity brand of her own image. And, challenging the common perception that Gentileschi's only masterpieces are her early Caravaggesque paintings, the book emphasizes the importance of her neglected late Neapolitan works, which are reinterpreted as innovative responses to the conventional practices of Baroque workshops.
Artemisia Gentileschi and the Business of Art shows that Gentileschi's remarkable success as a painter was due not only to her enormous talent but also to her ability to respond creatively to the continuously evolving trends and challenges of the Italian Baroque art world.
Marshall, Christopher R.
Princeton University Press
, 2024
; English
; 313 Pages
A new account of the renowned Baroque painter, revealing how her astute professional decisions shaped her career, style, and legacy
Art has long been viewed as a calling—a quasi-religious vocation that drives artists to seek answers to humanity's deepest questions. Yet the art world is a risky, competitive business that requires artists to make strategic decisions, especially if the artist is a woman. In Artemisia Gentileschi and the Business of Art, Christopher Marshall presents a new account of the life, work, and legacy of the Italian Baroque painter, revealing how she built a successful four-decade career in a male-dominated field—and how her business acumen has even influenced the resurrection of her reputation today, when she has been transformed from a footnote of art history to a globally famous artist and feminist icon.
Combining the most recent research with detailed analyses of newly attributed paintings, the book highlights the business considerations behind Gentileschi's development of a trademark style as she marketed herself to the public across a range of Italian artistic centers. The disguised self-portraits in her early Florentine paintings are reevaluated as an effort to make a celebrity brand of her own image. And, challenging the common perception that Gentileschi's only masterpieces are her early Caravaggesque paintings, the book emphasizes the importance of her neglected late Neapolitan works, which are reinterpreted as innovative responses to the conventional practices of Baroque workshops.
Artemisia Gentileschi and the Business of Art shows that Gentileschi's remarkable success as a painter was due not only to her enormous talent but also to her ability to respond creatively to the continuously evolving trends and challenges of the Italian Baroque art world.
eBook
The worth of art : financial tools for the art market
Cifuentes, Arturo; Charlin, Ventura
Columbia Business School Publishing
, 2023
; English
; 280 Pages
Silver Medal Winner, 2024 Axiom Business Book Award, Personal Finance / Retirement Planning / Investing
The market for art can be as eye-catching as artworks themselves. Works by artists from da Vinci and Rembrandt to Picasso and Modigliani have sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. The world’s ultrawealthy increasingly treat art as part of their portfolios. Since artworks are often valuable assets, how should financial professionals analyze them?
Arturo Cifuentes and Ventura Charlin provide an expert guide to the methods, risks, and rewards of investing in art. They detail how to apply the financial and statistical tools and techniques used to evaluate more traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, and real estate to art markets.
The Worth of Art: Financial Tools for the Art Markets shows readers how to use empirical evidence to answer questions such as: How do the returns on Basquiat compare to the S&P 500? Are Monet’s portraits as valuable as his landscapes? Do red paintings fetch higher prices than blue ones, and does the color palette matter equally to the sales of abstract Rothkos and figurative Hockneys? How much should be loaned to a borrower who is pledging one of Joan Mitchell’s late abstract paintings as collateral? Would the risk-return profile of a conventional portfolio benefit from exposure to Warhol?
Rigorous and readable, this book also demonstrates how quantitative analysis can deepen aesthetic appreciation of art.
Cifuentes, Arturo; Charlin, Ventura
Columbia Business School Publishing
, 2023
; English
; 280 Pages
Silver Medal Winner, 2024 Axiom Business Book Award, Personal Finance / Retirement Planning / Investing
The market for art can be as eye-catching as artworks themselves. Works by artists from da Vinci and Rembrandt to Picasso and Modigliani have sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. The world’s ultrawealthy increasingly treat art as part of their portfolios. Since artworks are often valuable assets, how should financial professionals analyze them?
Arturo Cifuentes and Ventura Charlin provide an expert guide to the methods, risks, and rewards of investing in art. They detail how to apply the financial and statistical tools and techniques used to evaluate more traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, and real estate to art markets.
The Worth of Art: Financial Tools for the Art Markets shows readers how to use empirical evidence to answer questions such as: How do the returns on Basquiat compare to the S&P 500? Are Monet’s portraits as valuable as his landscapes? Do red paintings fetch higher prices than blue ones, and does the color palette matter equally to the sales of abstract Rothkos and figurative Hockneys? How much should be loaned to a borrower who is pledging one of Joan Mitchell’s late abstract paintings as collateral? Would the risk-return profile of a conventional portfolio benefit from exposure to Warhol?
Rigorous and readable, this book also demonstrates how quantitative analysis can deepen aesthetic appreciation of art.
eBook
The creative business handbook : follow your passions and be your own boss
Puig, Alicia; Popova, Ekaterina
Chronicle Books LLC
, 2023
; English
; 284 Pages
Offering veteran insight and friendly, actionable advice from two self-made women who manage three six-figure businesses, this practical handbook acts as a roadmap to guide anyone wanting to build a profitable venture out of their creative passion.
Figuring out how to make a living from your creative work poses unique challenges and obstacles. From choosing the right business model to building a brand, from managing your time to scaling up your production—starting your own creative business often means doing it all yourself. Enter The Creative Business Handbook by Alicia Puig and Ekaterina Popova, the dynamic duo behind Create! Magazine.
With its conversational tone and accessible advice, this handbook lays an essential foundation for anyone wanting to earn a living with their art—no fancy business degree required! In addition to nuts-and-bolts advice based on the authors' real-life experiences, each chapter of the book includes an interview with a creative entrepreneur from a different background and craft, and ends with action steps that will help keep you on track. Written by creative business owners for creative business owners, this is the perfect book for anyone with a vision who is ready to hit the ground running.
EXPERT AUTHORS: Informed by the authors' decades of experience founding and managing three successful creative businesses—as well as the lessons they learned from some projects that didn't stand the test of time—this book offers tried-and-true advice for artists looking to get their creative enterprises off the ground and achieve real financial success. Popova and Puig have also included interviews with other self-employed creatives across a variety of fields, giving you a window into the myriad paths available to you as you embark on your entrepreneurial journey.
FOR ALL CREATIVES: This book offers real wisdom for starting and sustaining your unique creative business no matter your passion, whether you are a career artist looking to make a living outside of the gallery space, an experienced freelance writer interested in mentoring your peers, or a podcaster who dreams of sustaining yourself by making content that you genuinely care about. From advice about best marketing practices to striking the ever-elusive work-life balance, this guide will help you to understand the business side of your creative practice.
Perfect for:
• Artists, designers, makers, illustrators—recent graduates and budding professionals—looking to start their own businesses
• Creative people exploring career ideas and looking for practical advice and inspiration
• Graduation, birthday, or holiday gift for artistic and entrepreneurial friends and loved ones
• Readers of Create! Magazine, Steal Like an Artist, Big Magic, and Untamed
Puig, Alicia; Popova, Ekaterina
Chronicle Books LLC
, 2023
; English
; 284 Pages
Offering veteran insight and friendly, actionable advice from two self-made women who manage three six-figure businesses, this practical handbook acts as a roadmap to guide anyone wanting to build a profitable venture out of their creative passion.
Figuring out how to make a living from your creative work poses unique challenges and obstacles. From choosing the right business model to building a brand, from managing your time to scaling up your production—starting your own creative business often means doing it all yourself. Enter The Creative Business Handbook by Alicia Puig and Ekaterina Popova, the dynamic duo behind Create! Magazine.
With its conversational tone and accessible advice, this handbook lays an essential foundation for anyone wanting to earn a living with their art—no fancy business degree required! In addition to nuts-and-bolts advice based on the authors' real-life experiences, each chapter of the book includes an interview with a creative entrepreneur from a different background and craft, and ends with action steps that will help keep you on track. Written by creative business owners for creative business owners, this is the perfect book for anyone with a vision who is ready to hit the ground running.
EXPERT AUTHORS: Informed by the authors' decades of experience founding and managing three successful creative businesses—as well as the lessons they learned from some projects that didn't stand the test of time—this book offers tried-and-true advice for artists looking to get their creative enterprises off the ground and achieve real financial success. Popova and Puig have also included interviews with other self-employed creatives across a variety of fields, giving you a window into the myriad paths available to you as you embark on your entrepreneurial journey.
FOR ALL CREATIVES: This book offers real wisdom for starting and sustaining your unique creative business no matter your passion, whether you are a career artist looking to make a living outside of the gallery space, an experienced freelance writer interested in mentoring your peers, or a podcaster who dreams of sustaining yourself by making content that you genuinely care about. From advice about best marketing practices to striking the ever-elusive work-life balance, this guide will help you to understand the business side of your creative practice.
Perfect for:
• Artists, designers, makers, illustrators—recent graduates and budding professionals—looking to start their own businesses
• Creative people exploring career ideas and looking for practical advice and inspiration
• Graduation, birthday, or holiday gift for artistic and entrepreneurial friends and loved ones
• Readers of Create! Magazine, Steal Like an Artist, Big Magic, and Untamed
eBook
New trends in the protection of cultural and natural heritage
Kozien, Adam; Mazur, Anna; Mazurek, Bartosz; Dobosz, Piotr; Górny, Witold
Jagiellonian University Press
, 2023
; English
; 246 Pages
The book entitled New Trends in the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage is a collection of twelve scientific articles (chapters) authored by Polish and foreign researchers in the field of cultural heritage protection. Specializing in various scientific disciplines (including legal, architectural, managerial, cultural studies considerations) and at different stages of scientific development, the authors of the individual texts from either a casuistic (case studies) or systemic (studies of normative solutions or development trends) perspective analyze new trends in the protection of cultural and natural heritage.
Kozien, Adam; Mazur, Anna; Mazurek, Bartosz; Dobosz, Piotr; Górny, Witold
Jagiellonian University Press
, 2023
; English
; 246 Pages
The book entitled New Trends in the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage is a collection of twelve scientific articles (chapters) authored by Polish and foreign researchers in the field of cultural heritage protection. Specializing in various scientific disciplines (including legal, architectural, managerial, cultural studies considerations) and at different stages of scientific development, the authors of the individual texts from either a casuistic (case studies) or systemic (studies of normative solutions or development trends) perspective analyze new trends in the protection of cultural and natural heritage.
eBook
Alsop, Joseph Wright
Princeton University Press
, 2023
; English
; 752 Pages
A cultural and social history of art collecting, art history, and the art market In The Rare Art Traditions, Joseph Alsop offers a wide-ranging cultural and social history of art collecting, art history, and the art market. He argues that art collecting is the basic element in a remarkably complex and historically rare behavioral system, which includes the historical study of art, the market for buying and selling art, museums, forgery, and the astonishing prices commanded by some works of art. The Rare Art Traditions tells the story of three important traditions of art collecting: the classical tradition that began in Greece, the Chinese tradition, and the Western tradition. The result is a major original contribution to art history.
eBook
Alsop, Joseph Wright
Princeton University Press
, 2023
; English
; 752 Pages
A cultural and social history of art collecting, art history, and the art market In The Rare Art Traditions, Joseph Alsop offers a wide-ranging cultural and social history of art collecting, art history, and the art market. He argues that art collecting is the basic element in a remarkably complex and historically rare behavioral system, which includes the historical study of art, the market for buying and selling art, museums, forgery, and the astonishing prices commanded by some works of art. The Rare Art Traditions tells the story of three important traditions of art collecting: the classical tradition that began in Greece, the Chinese tradition, and the Western tradition. The result is a major original contribution to art history.
