Den Handel im Blick

Abstract

An elegant, aesthetic profession or a shady business? Art dealing has been depicted extremely ambiguously in the media and popular culture. However, possibly knowing them better than anyone else, how do artists themselves regard art dealers? In this study, Alexander Wilhelmi addresses this question by analysing eight portraits of art dealers all painted by prominent 20th century artists. In detailed individual appraisals, the author examines issues such as what the portraits reveal about the artists’ relationship to their subjects, how they depict the dealers’ relationship to art and what impressions of the art dealing profession they convey.