Description

A lively and fast-paced exploration of how postwar London emerged as the epicenter of the global art market—a tale of Impressionist masterpieces, ambitious dealers, and groundbreaking financial moves.

On October 15, 1958, Sotheby’s on Bond Street hosted a groundbreaking auction featuring seven Impressionist paintings from the collection of Erwin Goldschmidt. The sale included works by Manet, Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Renoir, with celebrity guests such as Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, and Somerset Maugham in attendance. The final total reached £781,000, setting a new record for a single auction and firmly establishing London as the world’s leading art market hub. This landmark event shifted influence from traditional dealers to auction houses and solidified the dominance of Impressionist art for the next four decades.

By seizing control of the Impressionist market from Paris and New York, Sotheby’s propelled itself to international prominence, opening offices across the globe. This expansion fueled skyrocketing prices, high-profile scandals, and legal battles, transforming London from a conservative center for Old Master sales into a dynamic force in contemporary art. The city’s transformation culminated in the opening of the Tate Modern in 2000, which successfully connected London’s growing wealth with the global art scene, providing a sophisticated social environment for collectors and contemporary art dealers alike.

With an engaging and energetic narrative, James Stourton charts the rise of the London art market from the postwar years to the early twenty-first century. While Sotheby’s serves as the focal point, the book is brought to life by a cast of eccentric scholars, sharp-eyed amateurs, brilliant émigrés, and stylish dealmakers who helped shape this dramatic period in art history.