Exploring various themes, this collection of short stories delves into the art world, cricket, football, war, espionage, and marriage, reflecting the author's extensive knowledge and experiences. The narratives range from humorous to poignant and surreal, offering a diverse reading experience that captivates and engages. Each story showcases a unique perspective, making it a compelling read for fans of varied genres.
Philip Hook Book order
Philip Hook is a distinguished art expert with extensive experience from leading auction houses. He has dedicated his career to a deep understanding of the art market, allowing him to delve into the intricacies of the art trade and its historical context. His writing explores not only art itself but also its role as an investment and its place in society, uncovering fascinating tales of triumphs and losses. Hook offers readers a unique perspective on the complex and often scandal-tinged world of art.







- 2023
- 2021
The ten most revolutionary years in art ever. Art and artists would never be the same again.
- 2018
Rogues' Gallery
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Philip Hook takes the lid off the world of art dealing to reveal the brilliance, cunning, greed and daring of its practitioners. In a richly anecdotal narrative he describes the rise and occasional fall of the extraordinary men and women who over the centuries have made it their business to sell art to kings, merchants, nobles, entrepreneurs and museums.From its beginnings in Antwerp, where paintings were sometimes sold by weight, to the rich hauteur of the contemporary gallery in London, Paris and New York, art dealing has been about identifying what is intangible but infinitely desirable, and then finding clients for whom it is irresistible. Those who have purveyed art for a living range from tailors, spies and the occasional anarchist to scholars, aristocrats, merchants and connoisseurs, each variously motivated by greed, belief in their own vision of art and its history, or simply the will to win.The cast of characters includes Paul Durand-Ruel, the Impressionists' champion; Herwath Walden, who first brought Modernism into the limelight; Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, high priest of Cubism; Leo Castelli, dealer-midwife to Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art; and Peter Wilson, the charismatic Sotheby's chairman who made the auction room theatre.Philip Hook's history is one of human folly, greed and duplicity, interspersed with ingenuity, inspiration and acts of heroism. Rogues' Gallery is learned, witty and irresistibly readable.
- 2017
Kto decyduje o randze malarza? Kto odkrył C�zanne?a i nadał nowy bieg artystycznym prądom w XX wieku? Dlaczego od wielu lat największe rekordy padają na aukcjach dzieł Jacksona Pollocka i Jeana-Michela Basquiata ? malarzy, kt�rych prace większość społeczeństwa odrzuca jako ?bazgroły??Philip Hook, długoletni ekspert domu aukcyjnego Sotheby?s, w fascynującej i nie pozbawionej typowo angielskiej zgryźliwości historii analizuje wieloznaczne, ale zawsze interesowne relacje marszand�w i artyst�w. W świecie, w kt�rym cena pojedynczego obrazu czasem wielokrotnie przewyższa cenę domu w centrum Nowego Jorku, nie ma miejsca na subtelności. Galeria szubrawc�w pokazuje, kto stoi za wielkimi fortunami zamrożonymi w najsłynniejszych kolekcjach dzieł, a przede wszystkim, jak powstały w XV wieku ?rynek? wpływa na to, co uznajemy dziś za godne miana sztuki? a co nie.
- 2017
Rogues' Gallery: A History of Art and its Dealers
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
Philip Hook takes the lid off the world of art dealing to reveal the brilliance, cunning, greed and daring of its practitioners. In a richly anecdotal narrative he describes the rise and occasional fall of the extraordinary men and women who over the centuries have made it their business to sell art to kings, merchants, nobles, entrepreneurs and museums. From its beginnings in Antwerp, where paintings were sometimes sold by weight, to the rich hauteur of the contemporary gallery in London, Paris and New York, art dealing has been about identifying what is intangible but infinitely desirable, and then finding clients for whom it is irresistible. Those who have purveyed art for a living range from tailors, spies and the occasional anarchist to scholars, aristocrats, merchants and connoisseurs, each variously motivated by greed, belief in their own vision of art and its history, or simply the will to win. The cast of characters includes Paul Durand-Ruel, the Impressionists' champion; Herwath Walden, who first brought Modernism into the limelight; Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, high priest of Cubism; Leo Castelli, dealer-midwife to Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art; and Peter Wilson, the charismatic Sotheby's chairman who made the auction room theatre. Philip Hook's history is one of human folly, greed and duplicity, interspersed with ingenuity, inspiration and acts of heroism
- 2015
Jestliže stojíte před uměleckým dílem v muzeu nebo ve výstavní síni, obvykle si pokládáte dvě otázky: 1) Líbí se mi to? A následně 2) Kdo je autorem? Jestliže stojíte před uměleckým dílem v aukční síni nebo v galerii obchodníka s uměním, budou po těchto dotazech následovat další: jakou má toto dílo hodnotu? Jakou bude mít hodnotu za pět nebo deset let? A co si o mně lidé pomyslí, když uvidí, že mi tohle visí na zdi? Snídaně u Sothebyho vám objasní, jak lidé nacházejí na podobné otázky odpovědi a jak výtvarné dílo nabývá finanční hodnoty. Philip Hook se opírá o pětatřicetileté zkušenosti na trhu s uměním a ve své fascinující a velmi subjektivní knize nám předkládá pohled na vizuálního umělce a jeho zázemí (včetně -ismů, tvůrců, jejichž dílo odpovídá obecnému vkusu, Géricaulta a sebevražd), na téma a styl (od abstrakce a všednosti až k surrealismu a válce), na sílu díla zavěšeného na zdi, na jeho původ a na proměnlivost trhu s uměním, jehož fungování autor v jednu chvíli přirovnává k vyjednávání přestupů fotbalových hráčů do konkurenčního týmu. Snídaně u Sothebyho je kniha humorná, objevná, pikantní, báječná a absurdní, plná inteligentních postřehů a vnímavá vůči výtvarnému umění i světu, který ho obklopuje.
- 2014
Breakfast at Sotheby's
- 368 pages
- 13 hours of reading
Breakfast at Sotheby's is a wry, intimate, truly revealing exploration of how art acquires its financial value, from Philip Hook, a senior director at Sotheby's. When you stand in front of a work of art in a museum or exhibition, the first two questions you normally ask yourself are Do I like it? And Who's it by? When you stand in front of a work of art in an auction room or dealer's gallery, you ask these two questions followed by others: how much is it worth? How much will it be worth in five or ten years' time? and What will people think of me if they see it hanging on my wall? Breakfast at Sotheby's is a guide to how people reach answers to such questions, and how in the process art is given a financial value. Fascinating and highly subjective, built on thirty-five years' experience of the art market, Philip Hook explores the artist and his hinterland (including -isms, middle-brow artists, Gericault and suicides), subject and style (from abstract art and banality through surrealism and war), "wall-power", provenance and market weather and more
- 2009
Starting with its shocking novelty and confounding style, Philip Hook traces the impact of the Impressionist painting as it spread to Germany, America, Great Britain and Japan, polarizing modernists and conservatives. Drawn from the author's own experiences with art collectors and dealers, this fascinating chapter in art history is narrated through the lens of today's art market.

