Why read The Worth of Art?

Book cover of The Worth of Art: Financial Tools for the Art Markets

Book description

The market for art can be as eye-catching as artworks themselves. Works by artists from da Vinci and Rembrandt to Picasso and Modigliani have sold for hundreds of millions of dollars. The world's ultrawealthy increasingly treat art as part of their portfolios. Since artworks are often valuable assets, how should…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Worth of Art as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Martin S. Fridson

Author

I began my career in finance at a firm headed by a Museum of Modern Art trustee. The firm championed art as a legitimate investment category. I learned the objective, quantitative methods for valuing stocks and bonds, but art valuation appeared subjective.

Had this book been available then, it would have shown me that rigorous methodology can be applied to art valuation. The authors fascinatingly describe how the values of Renoirs vary depending on the size of the canvas, their orientation (landscape or portrait), where they are auctioned, and whether they include a nude figure.

As a bonus, relevant even…

From Martin's 3 favorite reads in 2023.