A is for Artist, D is for Dealers

‘S is for Spoof.’ There it is on page 86, a full-page reproduction of a Nat Tate drawing, sold at Sotheby’s in 2011 for £6,500. A sum which, it is added,

with all due respect to [William] Boyd’s ability as an artist, probably proves the point about promotion being more important than talent.

It’s always something of a shock to encounter in a serious book the artist I invented and it’s a measure of the huge frame of reference encompassed in Breakfast at Sotheby’s that even Nat Tate and his drawing can make a salutary appearance.

Philip Hook has realised and brilliantly exploited the peculiar advantages of the A-Z format. Using the alphabet as a template forces you to think laterally. Half of the letters practically write themselves — ‘A is for Artist’ — but filling in the others frequently requires real ingenuity. When it works, as it triumphantly does here, the resulting impression is of a quart miraculously poured into a pint pot. Multitudes are contained in this medium-sized book — a whole education occurs in the reading of it.

Hook is particularly well qualified to be its author. His 35 years in the art world began when he took a fine art degree at Cambridge and then went to work for Christies in the Old Master department. There was an interlude when he was a dealer with a gallery on Jermyn Street, and he then moved on to Sotheby’s, where he is currently Senior Director of Impressionist and Modern Art.

He has written books of art history and five excellent novels set in the art world and for many years was a resident ‘expert’ on the Antiques Road Show. He has seen the art world from every possible angle, and the journey that he takes his readers on is seasoned and textured by his tremendous experience and expertise.