Despite the fact that the world of modern art has become more globalized and visible in recent decades, it is still seen as closed-off and mysterious. Matthew Israel takes the reader on a cross-continental trip through a year in the area of art, lifting the veil on a culture that emerges as diverse, adventurous, complex, and significant in A Year in the Art World. From Los Angeles and New York to Paris and Hong Kong, Israel meets artists, curators, critics, gallerists, and institutions, illuminating the working lives of these prominent and unknown art-world figures.
Using rare interviews and meticulously researched information, Israel delves into the inner workings of the art business to answer the question: What do people in the art world truly do? What motivates people to work with art? How can artworks become valuable? And how has technology changed the art world today? This interesting story demonstrates how "the art world" depicts an universe that is both startlingly huge and intimately interwoven, by anchoring the narrative in the field's history, economics, and cultural dynamics.