After World War II, there was a huge shift in culture: the center of artistic life moved from Europe to America. The author himself says: "France is the mother and father of this book, and America is its grown-up child." He begins the story with the history of Parisian collecting in the post-war period, a very difficult time for Europe, while explaining the transition to America's dominance in the art scene.
How did auctions transform from settling the debts of the deceased or dividing property in divorce into loud events of high society? How did collectors move from pre-war interest in old masters to Impressionists and contemporary art? How did New York and Los Angeles become the main modern centers of art, the activity of art dealers, collectors, impresarios, and, of course, the artists themselves?
The author also tells how any works of art became objects of collecting: from primitive masks to modernist painting and sculpture, from Chinese porcelain to European silverware, and how collectors came from different backgrounds with varying financial possibilities: both industrial magnates and noble aristocrats, well-known couturiers, and ordinary clerks. But the most important thing is that he shows us collections and tells about incredible collectors, many of whom were probably not previously known to the Russian reader.
