As with any career, one of the best things you can do if you are working at a gallery/museum or aspiring to, is to soak up all that you can on contemporary art. If you create a deeper understanding of the principles of the market, you begin to learn how to become a better player in it. Beyond that, I find the best gallerist/curator/gallery assistant/artist/whatever, is a well-read one. You need to be able to contextualize your artists and/or your art within the framework of the modern market. As potentially “business-like” that sounds, it is a crucial point in any business. And, as we all know, art is a business (and those who don’t treat it as such usually won’t turn successful).
I’ve compiled a brief listing of some of my top magazines, books, and blogs that I use to keep me posted on the goings-on in the art world. Please crib from my lists and add any more suggestions in the comments!
Magazines
- Frieze
- Art in America
- ARTnews
- ARTFORUM
- Whitewall
- Juxtapose
- Modern Painters
Blogs
- BLOUIN ArtInfo (this is a daily read for me)
- Two Coats of Paint (by Sharon Butler)
- Artspace
- Colossal (“A blog about art and visual ingenuity”… how poetic is that?!)
- NY Times Arts Beat
- Wooster Collective (predominantly Street Art)
- Art21 Blog
- Lustik
- HEYNAY
- Art F(ag) City (since Paddy Johnson has gotten more notoriety and traction, the site’s name has changed to Art F City)
- Hyperallergic
- The Art Blog (great coverage and a legacy of blogging… despite the not-so-creative name)
Books
- Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton
- The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art by Don Thompson
- The Value of Art: Money, Power, Beauty by Michael Findlay
- Art of the Deal: Contemporary Art in a Global Financial Market by Noah Horowitz
Happy reading!








