Confessions of an art dealer

Author John Howard Swanson was a very successful art dealer in San Francisco. He has written an autobiography called Confessions of an Art Dealer (709.2 SWA in the biography section).

Before I begin with an overview of his experiences, readers should remember that not all art dealers do inappropriate tactics for selling art. He's only talking about what he had seen in San Francisco.

Before he set up his own art galleries, Swanson worked at a gallery that bought blank paper with only the signature from Salvador Dali and had a local printer print, as needed, a particular image. The gallery sold these as original prints. ("Notice that the artist hand signed it!")

Swanson was one of the few art galleries in the San Francisco area who promoted local artists. During the '60s and '70s (same as now) San Francisco was a thrilling place for new artists to live. Instead of relying on "prints" from the established names, Swanson took a chance with local artists. He even made a promise, which he kept, that he would pay the artists every month for artwork that was sold. Many of the art galleries did not pay the artists on time, sometimes not at all.

Of course, he also had to deal with the egos of the artists who wanted more space or a larger percentage of the sales.

Overall, it's a fascinating look at the art world through the eyes of an art dealer.

c Waterloo Public Library 2007