Sarah Thornton’s Seven Days in the Art World is a funny series of non-fiction narratives, which reveal the inner workings of the institutions that contribute to an artist’s place in art history. The book is an international hit, available in 14 translations.
Thornton writes regularly about contemporary art for The Economist and other publications.
Recent Articles
Artistic Licence
Ai Weiwei was subjected to about 50 interrogations, many of which started with the question: “What is your occupation?” When Mr Ai replied that he was an artist, his inquisitor would pound the table and say, “I think you are at most an art worker.”
The craft of being an artist
Joseph Beuys said, “Everyone is an artist.” If it weren't complete nonsense, it might be empowering. If anybody understood the irony that being an artist is a craft, it was Beuys.
Damien Hirst: Is nothing sacred?
HIRST may be rich and famous, but he doesn't have everything. The 46-year-old artist has never had a solo retrospective in a modern-art museum.
Before Gilbert & George, artists might
have had big personalities or carefully calibrated public images, but they didn't put themselves forth as works of art.
College Art Association Conference
Artist Sheryl Oring worked on a crimson 1950s typewriter, asking passersby one of my favorite questions: What is the role of the artist?
Cindy Sherman: Master of self-effacement
Why does the photographer appear in most of her work? One reason is shyness. Disguises can be liberating and delegating can be arduous.
What is an artist?
Why is there resistance to defining the most valorized individual within the art world, the one who gives purpose to the activities of the rest?
The Art of Recession Dodging
The gravity-defying surge of the art auction market is surprising, but only at first glance.
Yayoi Kusama: Cosmic Queen
In her Tokyo studio, Yayoi Kusama paints an arc in exactly the same vibrant red colour as the wig she is wearing.
Seven Days in the Art World is an “exhaustively researched and intelligently written… refreshingly open-minded exploration.” Washington Post
“The best book yet written about the modern-art boom… an excellent, vivid, wittily written book… a Robert Altmanesque panorama of… the most important cultural phenomenon of the last ten years….” The Sunday Times
“An entertaining and lucid account of the mysterious ways of contemporary art… [Thornton] does well to resist the temptation to draw any glib, overarching conclusions. There is more than enough in her rigorous, precise reportage… for the reader to make his or her own connections.” Financial Times
Seven Days “is poised to endure as a work of sociology… Where others would be content to gawk and gossip, [Thornton] pushes her well-chosen subjects to explore the questions ‘What is an artist?’ and ‘What makes a work of art great?’” The New York Times
Seven Days in the Art World “will survive as a hard-thinking but high-spirited memorial… Thornton brings to light the bizarre machinery that keeps studio showbiz on the road, and in the headlines.” (“20 Best Books of the Year”) The Independent