Art market research : a guide to methods and sources /

This second edition (1st ed., CH, Apr'07, 44-4196) by McNulty (NYU's Bobst Library) features an updated overview of trends and advances within the art market. An art librarian with extensive experience offering reference services to both art professionals and students, McNulty has codified a comprehensive index for art market researchers, providing new resources and insights into technological and global changes that affect the art world. He discusses the general "big picture" world of the art market, including recent global expansion of new art markets like BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). A list of marketing resources for artists, dealers, auctioneers, and collectors rounds out the first part of the book. McNulty then discusses in detail the processes of buying and selling art and the often complicated task of assigning value. Of note are sections that discuss authentication and aesthetic considerations. He also details basic methods and sources for researching fine and decorative arts, comparing new and old methodologies.In the last chapters, McNulty addresses market research history, provenance, and art law research. This book moves from general to particular, with resources listed locally and internationally. Informative strategies for researching a variety of mediums such as painting, drawing, ceramics, glass, furniture, and textiles are included, along with sources for accessing artist signatures, artists, and exhibitions. Overall, the text's fluid style is accessible to novices and experts. Of special mention is a new appendix for online art apps, keeping this resource up-to-date and fresh. This second edition builds intelligently upon the first, and continues to offer a plethora of concise, useful information for art collectors, scholars, graduate students, librarians, and art professionals. Summing Up: Recommended. Museum professionals/practitioners; upper-level graduate students. J. Jocson-Singh Columbia University