In 2005, art dealer Polsky's prized Andy Warhol “fright wig” self-portrait sold at auction for $320,000. If he had waited just a couple of more years to sell, Polsky would likely have garnered millions: in 2007, Warhol's Green Car Crash
sold for $71 million. In this instructive, irreverent and often uproarious memoir, Polsky explains the capricious functioning of the art market and the economic and cultural forces that have transformed it from the 1980s, when art dealers fostered relationships with artists and other dealers, into today's market when dealers cultivate stronger relationships with auction houses than with collectors and artists. Polsky (I Bought Andy Warhol
) is a high-spirited and self-deprecating raconteur who relishes exposing the idiosyncrasies, absurdities and hypocrisies of his industry and its biggest players. A highly enjoyable and informative insider's guide to a milieu to which few are privy, this will be of interest to the general reader seeking to understand the art world's economic evolution and cultural impact, told through a delightfully vital mixture of memoir, reportage and social satire. (Sept.)
