100 Secrets of the Art World - by Thomas Girst & Magnus Resch (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

How does the art world work? What are its secrets? Zaha Hadid, Jeff Koons, Hans Ulrich Obrist and others offer advice and anecdotes

What do major artists consider their best-kept secret? What is regarded as confidential knowledge among the key players of the global art market? In 100 Secrets of the Art World, the most powerful international individuals share their insights.

Edited by Thomas Girst and Magnus Resch (author of the bestselling Management of Art Galleries), this indispensable and fun guide to contemporary art contains exclusive anecdotes, advice and personal stories from artists, museum directors, gallerists, auction house insiders, collectors and many more. Contributors include Jeff Koons, Zaha Hadid, Marina Abramovic, Ólafur Elíasson and John Baldessari, as well as directors and curators from the Centre Pompidou, the Guggenheim, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, the Nationalgalerie and elsewhere, including Philip Tinari, Hans Neuendorf, Matthew Slotover, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Daniel Birnbaum, Klaus Biesenbach, Jeffrey Deitch, Larry Gagosian, Alexandra Munroe and others.

Thoughtful and often critical entries make this informative publication an entertaining read for anyone interested in contemporary art.

Thomas Girst is an art historian and the worldwide Head of Cultural Engagement at the BMW Group. His most recent publications include The Duchamp Dictionary (2014) and Art, Literature, and the Japanese American Internment (2015).

Magnus Resch is an author, art entrepreneur and lecturer at the University of St. Gallen. His most recent publications include the Art Collector Report (2015) and the bestseller Management of Art Galleries (2015).

Review Quotes

There's pop art, and then there's poop art. While Chris Ofili caused a spit-storm by using elephant dung in his 1996 painting 'The Holy Virgin Mary, ' this new book 100 Secrets of the Art World reveals that Pablo Picasso used feces to paint with as far back as 1938. Divulging 'a family secret, ' Diana Widmaier Picasso states that her grandfather used excrement produced by his then-3-year-old daughter Maya (Diana's mother) to paint an apple in a 1938 still life.--Richard Johnson "New York Post"