{"product_id":"9781804441237","title":"The Grand Scheme of Things : the bold new novel about prejudice in the theatre world","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Times Best Art Book of the Year, 2024'A riot of a book' – Country Life's Books of the Year, 2024The modern art market was born on a single night. On 15 October 1958 Sotheby’s of Bond Street staged an ‘event sale’ of Impressionist paintings from the collection of an American banker, Erwin Goldschmidt: three Manets, two Cézannes, one Van Gogh and a Renoir. Movie stars and other celebrities attended in black tie and saw the seven lots go for £781,000 – at the time the highest price for a single art sale.   Overnight, London became the world centre of the art market and Sotheby’s an international auction house. The event signalled a shift in power from dealers to auctioneers and pointed the way for Impressionist paintings to dominate the market for the next forty years. In this climate Sotheby’s and Christie’s became a great business duopoly – as aggressive, dominant and competitive in the field of art sales as Pepsi and Coca-Cola were in soft drinks. The resulting expansion of the market was accompanied by rocketing prices, colourful scandals and legal dramas. Over the decades, London transformed itself from a place of old master sales to a revitalised centre of contemporary art, a process crowned by the opening of Tate Modern in 2000.   James Stourton tells the story of the London art market from the immediate postwar period to the turn of the millennium in engaging and fast-paced style, populating his richly entertaining narrative with a glorious rogues’ gallery of clever amateurs, eccentric scholars, brilliant emigrés, cockney traders and grandees with a flair for the deal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"product__accordion accordion quick-add-hidden\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdetails id=\"Details-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003csummary role=\"button\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-controls=\"ProductAccordion-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdiv class=\"summary__title\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003ch2 class=\"h4 accordion__title inline-richtext\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProduct Information\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/h2\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003csvg class=\"icon icon-caret\" viewbox=\"0 0 10 6\"\u003e\u003cpath fill=\"currentColor\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M9.354.646a.5.5 0 0 0-.708 0L5 4.293 1.354.646a.5.5 0 0 0-.708.708l4 4a.5.5 0 0 0 .708 0l4-4a.5.5 0 0 0 0-.708\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\u003e\u003c\/path\u003e\u003c\/svg\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003c\/summary\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdiv class=\"accordion__content rte\" id=\"ProductAccordion-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"metafield-multi_line_text_field\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James Stourton\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDate of Publication:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/10\/2025\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePagination:\u003c\/b\u003e 432 pages\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e N\/A\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eImprint:\u003c\/b\u003e Apollo\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePublished By:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Publishing PLC\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eBook Classification:\u003c\/b\u003e British \u0026amp; Irish history\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/b\u003e 128 x 197 x 31\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eISBN13\/EAN\/SKU:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781804541982\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\u003c\/details\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"James Stourton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45813428191476,"sku":"9781804441237","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0568\/2180\/9347\/files\/9781804441237_0c4f3d31-bf75-4155-8ac4-220a0e314446.jpg?v=1758370833","url":"https:\/\/mountfloridabooks.pro\/products\/9781804441237","provider":"Mount Florida Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}