Relative values, or, What's art worth?

Why do we value art? In what ways do we assess its value? Why do we care so much about the signature of the artist on a painting? What relation does the financial value of a work of art bear to its aesthetic value? How are our perceptions of works of art influenced by viewing them in museums? These and other questions are answered in this book which spans past and present and travels the world to enquire into the nature of art. Accompanying a BBC television series, this book evaluates artists from Michelangelo to Andy Warhol, looks at museums from the Louvre to the Seibu department store's contemporary art gallery in Tokyo, considers the role of collectors from Lorenzo de Medici to Charles Saatchi and analyzes the way in which art is a source of wealth, power, prestige, beauty and even spirituality. This illustrated investigation into the way we value art aims to make us look afresh at the visual arts around us.