I had the chance, chez AMA, to interview the very enigmatic and knowledgable Michael Findlay — whose book I picked up prior to starting my internship. Inviting him to interview, I quizzed him about his views on the industry, art for art’s sake and the current trend for block-buster exhibitions. If any one else feels frustrated with the museum experience, or is otherwise interested in art, have a gander. Now, I believe Google prohibits you from using the same content on different sites, so here’s a link to the full interview.
Your book is about the commercial value of art but also installs an understanding of its social worth — was this your intention?
Well, I think that one of the revealing things to me now is how people get a different sense of it. I just spent a week as a dealer at Art Basel and people would come up to me and tell me they’d read my book. Each person might say something different, depending on their personal focus: “It’s all about how you price paintings”; “it’s about art world gossip”; or “how people show off by buying art.” I suppose it includes all of these! I think that the reason it initially got published was because it led off with a discussion about money, because when it comes to art, money seems to be the easiest subject to write about and unfortunately it is also the easiest subject for people to absorb…
