The Auctioneer: Adventures in the Art Trade - Simon de Pury Audiobook

Written by Simon de Pury
Read by William Stadiem
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Release date: May 3, 2016
Duration: 09:28:42

Just as William Goldman, the ultimate screenwriter, took us inside Hollywood, Simon de Pury, the ultimate art player, will take us inside an even more secretive business, whose staggering prices, famous collectors, and high crimes are front page news almost every day. The former Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, the former owner of Sotheby’s rival Phillips de Pury, and currently a London-based dealer and advisor to great collectors around the world, Simon has one of the highest profiles of any non-artist in the art world.

Even though he has an ancient title and the aura of an elegant Swiss banker, Simon is famous as an iconoclast and is known as “The Mick Jagger of Auctions” for his showmanship and exuberance. His whole life in art has been devoted to bringing art to the public and to the juxtaposition of high and low. Movie stars, musicians, and athletes compete with hedge funders and billionaires for the great art, and Simon is their pied piper; he wants to turn the world to art and this book will be his message.

A critic’s review - - -Listeners who are familiar with the modern art world may enjoy this insider account, but others will find the constant name dropping and discussions of appearances at exclusive places and events rather dull. Ralph Lister uses plummy tones to convey the rarefied atmosphere of the art world. VERDICT Recommended only for those with a strong interest in contemporary art or the contemporary art market

Another review - - -Though the narrative is often witty (the author’s brief interaction with Arnold Schwarzenegger is highly amusing), the writing is weirdly exaggerated and unfunny at times, such as when de Pury compares himself to Stalin’s victims when describing the Russian Mercury Group’s takeover of his auction house, or when he calls himself a “drug orphan” after his father, a lawyer for a pharmaceutical company, was promoted and transferred to Tokyo. These quibbles aside, the book provides an interesting glimpse into a world of artists, collectors, and dealers in which “the call of the gavel was the call of the wild.”

The review that really counts is your own.