The Art Market
There are two things I want to do:
1) Create art
2) Sell the art I create
I doubt I’ll create and sell a series of Campbell soup cans. That’s been done before.
“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art.”
As with any new endeavor, I’m painfully aware of my own naivety to marketing art and the business of art. This is a feeling that’s not new to me. What I do professionally has evolved and so, too, my understanding of business. I know that I do not know all that I need to know.
With that sobering bit of knowledge, I do what any self-respecting ignorant person does: Google it.
I found a four part series directed by Oscar Boyson and produced in collaboration with UBS and Artsy. The series is: The Art Market (in Four Parts). These four short films cover the four cornerstones of the art market: auctions, galleries, patrons, and art fairs. According to Artsy: "Together, the four segments tell a comprehensive story about the art market’s history and cultural influence, providing an approachable yet nuanced introduction to a extraordinary subject."
Nuanced? The modern art market portrayed in this four part series is far more stratospheric than my modest desire to sell my paintings on Etsy or directly from my website. The Art Market series is nonetheless a fascinating look of how the art market has evolved.
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Auctions
How did the art auctions business become a multi-billion-dollar industry? The first film in a series about the art market explores this question, leading viewers through the complex history of auctions, with specific attention to the last 20 years. The film unpacks record-breaking sales, like last week’s epic Jean-Michel Basquiat painting Untitled (1982), hammering in at $51 million, and anomalies such as Ai Weiwei’s Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds) (2010), which pop up at auction in countless different quantities, making the connection between the auction price and market value of art. Interviews with auction-house specialists, financial analysts, and art-world influencers like Adam Lindemann, Xin Li, Sarah Thornton, Josh Baer, and Don Thompson add personal insight and shape the narrative.
Auctions launches a four-part documentary series, followed by Galleries, Patrons, and Art Fairs, released weekly through mid-June. Together, the four segments will tell a comprehensive story about the art market’s history and cultural influence, providing an approachable yet nuanced introduction to a extraordinary subject. Visit Artsy.net/art-market-series to watch all the films.
The series is produced in collaboration with UBS and directed by Oscar Boyson.
Director: Oscar Boyson
Editor: Nate DeYoung
Producer: Sean Barth
Produced By: Neighborhood Watch Films
Assistant Editor: Erin DeWitt
Sound: Colin Alexander
Music: Jay Wadley of Found Objects Music Production
Color: Irving Harvey
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Galleries
What does an art gallery do for an artist? What fuels the global expansion of galleries like Gagosian and White Cube? And how has the internet affected the way galleries do business? In the second installment of “The Art Market Series (in Four Parts),” we look at the complex ecosystem of commercial galleries to probe these questions—and get to the root of how galleries effectively steward artists’ careers, promote their work, and protect their markets. Gallerists, artists, and art-world influencers like Amalia Dayan, Daniella Luxembourg, Dominique Lévy, Michele Maccarone, Elmgreen & Dragset, Josh Baer, Stefan Simchowitz, and Sarah Thornton provide their insights.
Galleries is the second installment of a four-part documentary series, preceded by Auctions and followed by Patrons and Art Fairs. Together, the four segments tell a comprehensive story about the art market’s history and cultural influence, providing an approachable yet nuanced introduction to a extraordinary subject. Visit Artsy.net/art-market-series to watch all the films.
The series is produced in collaboration with UBS and directed by Oscar Boyson.
Director - Oscar Boyson
Editor - Nate DeYoung
Producer - Sean Barth
Produced By - Neighborhood Watch Films
Director of Photography - David Russo
Assistant Editor - Erin DeWitt
Assistant Editor - Matthew Hart
Sound - Colin Alexander
Music - Jay Wadley of Found Objects Music Production
Color - Irving Harvey
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Patrons
What motivates patrons to fund artists’ wildest dreams? How has the concept of art patronage changed over time? And what’s behind the dramatic rise of private art museums? In the third installment of “The Art Market (in Four Parts),” we explore how and why patrons support artists and their careers, from the Medici family’s backing of Michelangelo’s work during the Renaissance to today’s most influential collectors, museum donors, and behind-the-scenes benefactors. Patrons and art-world influencers like Eli Broad, Maja Hoffmann, Josh Baer, and Sarah Thornton provide their insights.
Patrons is the third installment of a four-part documentary series, preceded by Auctions and Galleries and followed by Art Fairs, released weekly through mid-June. Together, the four segments tell a comprehensive story about the art market’s history and cultural influence. Visit Artsy.net/art-market-series to watch all the films.
This series is directed by Oscar Boyson and produced in collaboration with UBS.
Director - Oscar Boyson
Editor - Nate DeYoung
Producer - Sean Barth
Producer By - Neighborhood Watch Films
Assistant Editor - Erin DeWitt
Sound - Colin Alexander
Music - Jay Wadley of Found Objects Music Production
Color - Irving Harvey
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Art Fairs
In 2015, art fairs generated an estimated $12.7 billion in profits for exhibiting galleries. But why do collectors attend fairs in droves? And what’s behind their rapid international proliferation? The fourth installment of “The Art Market (in Four Parts)” tracks how the art fair has transformed from a trade show into a platform where all aspects of the art market—galleries, collectors, curators, and artists—converge, and why they keep coming back. Fair directors and art-world influencers like Noah Horowitz, Matthew Slotover, Elmgreen & Dragset, Michele Maccarone, Josh Baer, and Sarah Thornton provide their insights.
Art Fairs is the final installment of a four-part documentary series, preceded by Auctions, Galleries, and Patrons. Together, the four segments tell a comprehensive story about the art market’s history and cultural influence. Visit Artsy.net/art-market-series to watch all the films.
This series is directed by Oscar Boyson and produced in collaboration with UBS.
Director - Oscar Boyson
Editor - Nate DeYoung
Producer - Sean Barth
Produced by - Neighborhood Watch Films
Assistant Editor - Erin DeWitt
Director of Photography: Sam Wootton
Sound - Colin Alexander
Music - Jay Wadley of Found Objects Music Production
Music - Steve Marion
Color - Irving Harvey
