Coveted contemporary art
 |
Description
Book Introduction
- A word from MD
-
The allure of the current art worldWe explore the allure of modern art through the works of 24 contemporary artists who are attracting global attention.
The author, an art journalist, vividly presents the diverse world of contemporary art through his vivid and lucid commentary, and the 50 or so illustrations rarely found in books reveal the true face of art in its current state.
August 29, 2025. Art PD Ahn Hyun-jae
Gerhard Richter, Nicolas Partey, David Hockney, Ron Mueck…
24 artists and their works that are attracting collectors' attention and the public's enthusiasm.
★ Includes 43 pieces of modern art
★Highly recommended by Professor Yang Jeong-mu of the Korea National University of Arts
Breaking away from the conventional approach of art books that interprets masterpieces in relation to human emotions, this book will be a welcome addition to anyone curious about the activities of living artists.
In her first book, "Enchanting Contemporary Art," art journalist Kim Seul-gi introduces 24 artists who are attracting attention from around the world.
It is even more exciting because these are contemporary artists who are currently decorating the art market, rather than the artists we have seen in our textbooks, such as Picasso, Klimt, and Monet.
Who are the artists collectors are paying attention to? Which of their works have fetched such high prices? Why do they command such attention? As Professor Yang Jeong-moo of the Korea National University of Arts notes in his recommendation, the author, a "professional art major with a thorough knowledge of the field," offers clear explanations that will gradually help you understand the workings of this world.
The moment we realize the complex relationships between modern art, we become even more captivated by its beauty.
The book overcomes the limitations of including images and contains nearly 50 paintings created with the cooperation of artists and galleries, capturing the attention of all lovers of modern art.
24 artists and their works that are attracting collectors' attention and the public's enthusiasm.
★ Includes 43 pieces of modern art
★Highly recommended by Professor Yang Jeong-mu of the Korea National University of Arts
Breaking away from the conventional approach of art books that interprets masterpieces in relation to human emotions, this book will be a welcome addition to anyone curious about the activities of living artists.
In her first book, "Enchanting Contemporary Art," art journalist Kim Seul-gi introduces 24 artists who are attracting attention from around the world.
It is even more exciting because these are contemporary artists who are currently decorating the art market, rather than the artists we have seen in our textbooks, such as Picasso, Klimt, and Monet.
Who are the artists collectors are paying attention to? Which of their works have fetched such high prices? Why do they command such attention? As Professor Yang Jeong-moo of the Korea National University of Arts notes in his recommendation, the author, a "professional art major with a thorough knowledge of the field," offers clear explanations that will gradually help you understand the workings of this world.
The moment we realize the complex relationships between modern art, we become even more captivated by its beauty.
The book overcomes the limitations of including images and contains nearly 50 paintings created with the cooperation of artists and galleries, capturing the attention of all lovers of modern art.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
Recommendation
prolog
Part 1: The World's Most Expensive Ultra-Contemporary Artists
1.
Nicholas Party
2.
Flora Yukhnovitch
3.
Adrian Gueny
4.
Jonas Wood
5.
Hernan Bas
6.
Beeple
7.
Matthew Wong
8.
Caroline Walker
9.
Ayako Rokkaku
10.
Emma Webster
11.
Amoako Boafo
12.
Lucy Bull
Part 2: 20th-Century Masters Loved by Collectors
13.
Gerhard Richter
14.
David Hockney
15.
Philip Guston
16.
Joan Mitchell
17.
Louise Bourgeois
18.
Peter Doig
19.
George Condo
20.
Yoshitomo Nara
21.
Scott Caan
22.
Rondinone
23.
Cecily Brown
24.
Ron Mueck
Epilogue
Art Credit
prolog
Part 1: The World's Most Expensive Ultra-Contemporary Artists
1.
Nicholas Party
2.
Flora Yukhnovitch
3.
Adrian Gueny
4.
Jonas Wood
5.
Hernan Bas
6.
Beeple
7.
Matthew Wong
8.
Caroline Walker
9.
Ayako Rokkaku
10.
Emma Webster
11.
Amoako Boafo
12.
Lucy Bull
Part 2: 20th-Century Masters Loved by Collectors
13.
Gerhard Richter
14.
David Hockney
15.
Philip Guston
16.
Joan Mitchell
17.
Louise Bourgeois
18.
Peter Doig
19.
George Condo
20.
Yoshitomo Nara
21.
Scott Caan
22.
Rondinone
23.
Cecily Brown
24.
Ron Mueck
Epilogue
Art Credit
Detailed image
Into the book
This book focuses on the most expensive works and artists in existence.
It is often said that art is beautiful and useless.
But fine art is different from any other art genre.
Because there is an abundance of beautiful and expensive art.
Amazingly, the value of each piece of this art is converted into a price.
If we simplify the formula, we can say that the public's enthusiasm and love are converted into money.
So art is a special and interesting art.
It may be the art most suited to the era in which capitalism has finally triumphed.
This book introduces the writers of our time.
You may remember being amazed by the dramatic lives of Vincent van Gogh and Michelangelo Buonarroti during art classes you took while dozing off in school.
But there are many surprising stories about the lives of contemporary artists living in the 21st century.
Among them, some have made incredibly dramatic debuts and created stardom, while others have walked a painful path, battling poverty their entire lives.
While some artists counterattacked the lofty art history that had continued for thousands of years and ushered in a golden age for women's art, others proudly established themselves despite the oppression of their time.
If we take a closer look at their lives and revisit their works, contemporary art will no longer be as difficult as it once was.
--- p.8~9
Nicolas Party grew up in a beautiful village outside Lausanne, Switzerland.
As a teenager in the 1990s, he became obsessed with street art, which was popular at the time, and spent about ten years running from the police, drawing graffiti.
In the end, I was expelled from high school because I didn't have enough class days.
He diligently drew graffiti on the railroad tracks, but the next morning it was completely erased.
The legacy of my boyhood parties is the oversized murals I painstakingly painted, knowing they would never be preserved.
Later, he exhibited his 120-meter-long landscape painting, "Sunrise, Sunset," at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
Nicolas Party studied film at the Lausanne School of Fine Arts and has been creating 3D animations for over ten years.
After entering Glasgow School of Art, I started painting landscapes, still lifes, and portraits.
The sampling and collage techniques he learned while studying computer design became his powerful weapons.
The party began searching for images on the Internet, editing them, printing them, and using them to compose their paintings.
Collage was actively used, especially for portraits.
His free-spirited thinking and reinterpretation are a working method born from the realization that there is nothing new in the world.
By utilizing works of the past, you are achieving eternity that transcends time, right?
--- p.24
Hernan Bas is one of Asia's most popular artists, having consistently exhibited his representative works at world-renowned art fairs, including Frieze Seoul, which opened in 2022, and Art Basel Hong Kong in 2023 and 2024.
At the Christie's Hong Kong auction held in May 2022, his 2010 work "Over-Prepared Boy" sold for HK$9.81 million (approximately KRW 1.77 billion), making him a "million-dollar artist," a guarantee for blue-chip artists.
Soon after, in November of the same year, the work that broke the record again at 11.25 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 2 billion won) at Christie's Hong Kong auction was Bath's 2008 work "Bats and Barn Bridge."
This painting is a diptych created by gluing two large canvases side by side, each measuring 152.5 centimeters in height and width.
Far away, on the mountain tops, eternal snow is piled up, and rapids flow through the mountains as if a storm has swept through them.
Hidden within this ruined landscape is a boy whose story is unknown.
It's a picture that makes you wonder what story it's hiding.
The artist's vibrant energy is vividly felt in the rough painting style.
It is often said that art is beautiful and useless.
But fine art is different from any other art genre.
Because there is an abundance of beautiful and expensive art.
Amazingly, the value of each piece of this art is converted into a price.
If we simplify the formula, we can say that the public's enthusiasm and love are converted into money.
So art is a special and interesting art.
It may be the art most suited to the era in which capitalism has finally triumphed.
This book introduces the writers of our time.
You may remember being amazed by the dramatic lives of Vincent van Gogh and Michelangelo Buonarroti during art classes you took while dozing off in school.
But there are many surprising stories about the lives of contemporary artists living in the 21st century.
Among them, some have made incredibly dramatic debuts and created stardom, while others have walked a painful path, battling poverty their entire lives.
While some artists counterattacked the lofty art history that had continued for thousands of years and ushered in a golden age for women's art, others proudly established themselves despite the oppression of their time.
If we take a closer look at their lives and revisit their works, contemporary art will no longer be as difficult as it once was.
--- p.8~9
Nicolas Party grew up in a beautiful village outside Lausanne, Switzerland.
As a teenager in the 1990s, he became obsessed with street art, which was popular at the time, and spent about ten years running from the police, drawing graffiti.
In the end, I was expelled from high school because I didn't have enough class days.
He diligently drew graffiti on the railroad tracks, but the next morning it was completely erased.
The legacy of my boyhood parties is the oversized murals I painstakingly painted, knowing they would never be preserved.
Later, he exhibited his 120-meter-long landscape painting, "Sunrise, Sunset," at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.
Nicolas Party studied film at the Lausanne School of Fine Arts and has been creating 3D animations for over ten years.
After entering Glasgow School of Art, I started painting landscapes, still lifes, and portraits.
The sampling and collage techniques he learned while studying computer design became his powerful weapons.
The party began searching for images on the Internet, editing them, printing them, and using them to compose their paintings.
Collage was actively used, especially for portraits.
His free-spirited thinking and reinterpretation are a working method born from the realization that there is nothing new in the world.
By utilizing works of the past, you are achieving eternity that transcends time, right?
--- p.24
Hernan Bas is one of Asia's most popular artists, having consistently exhibited his representative works at world-renowned art fairs, including Frieze Seoul, which opened in 2022, and Art Basel Hong Kong in 2023 and 2024.
At the Christie's Hong Kong auction held in May 2022, his 2010 work "Over-Prepared Boy" sold for HK$9.81 million (approximately KRW 1.77 billion), making him a "million-dollar artist," a guarantee for blue-chip artists.
Soon after, in November of the same year, the work that broke the record again at 11.25 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 2 billion won) at Christie's Hong Kong auction was Bath's 2008 work "Bats and Barn Bridge."
This painting is a diptych created by gluing two large canvases side by side, each measuring 152.5 centimeters in height and width.
Far away, on the mountain tops, eternal snow is piled up, and rapids flow through the mountains as if a storm has swept through them.
Hidden within this ruined landscape is a boy whose story is unknown.
It's a picture that makes you wonder what story it's hiding.
The artist's vibrant energy is vividly felt in the rough painting style.
--- p.65
Publisher's Review
From the birth of a star to entering the art fair
The laws of the art market that the world is paying attention to
A work of art that always appears on celebrities' collections.
It is also gaining attention as a means of financial investment because if you recognize its value early and buy it, its price will rise beyond imagination in the future.
The problem is that entering the world of collecting requires more than just an eye and financial resources.
Wouldn't it be possible to gain insight if we knew who the artists who consistently appear at collectors, art fairs, and auction houses around the world are? I can confidently say that you can't begin this book without mentioning the 24 artists featured in it.
Let's learn about the principles of how the art market works through the stories of these artists and their defining works.
The art world is particularly full of dramatic stories.
Of course, the author's life and money cannot be left out of the story.
A story about someone who was shunned by the world during their lifetime, but was loved for many years after their death, and became a very expensive artist that was out of reach of the general public, or a story about someone who had an ordinary childhood and loved painting, and who went through a long period of training and now has a work worth millions of dollars.
These behind-the-scenes stories in 『Enchanting Contemporary Art』 lower the threshold for entering the world of art.
It covers the story of how Nicolas Party, who heated up the art market, changed the fate of his paintings by falling for the charm of easily broken pastels, the technique of Flora Yukhnovic, who wisely crosses tradition and modernity between abstraction and figuration, the prolific work of Adrian Gueny, who already presented a $10 million work in his 30s, and even the works of NFT artist Beeple, who emerged in line with the times.
Of course, we can't miss the shocking Amoako Boafo auction record and the short but intense life of Matthew Wong, who became famous through Facebook.
As the art world entered a boom in 2023, the significant activities of female artists also attracted attention.
It is also interesting to learn about the lineage of kawaii art through Caroline Walker, who captured the image of a modern working woman on canvas, and Ayako Rokkaku, who is famous for her improvisational work.
The list of great writers who overcame the turbulent times presented later is even more splendid.
Beginning with the paintings of Gerhard Richter, who demonstrates that the title "King of Modern Art" is no exaggeration, and continuing with David Hockney and Ron Mueck, who recently became a hot topic at the Museum of Modern Art, this book is a veritable art fair.
The introduction of Louise Bourgeois, who will soon be exhibiting in Korea, serves as a friendly guide to understanding the artist's world through an exhibition preview.
If the price of the paintings in this book is calculated in Korean currency, they are worth 500 billion won.
This value becomes real amidst complex information ranging from Sotheby's and Christie's major auction records, the artist's life and the number of works and production methods.
Passing by art fairs and art galleries
The world of art that enriches our lives
Autumn is actually a season for art, not reading.
Freeze Seoul, which announced early bird sales, announces the start of September.
From Frieze London to Art Basel Paris, the world is gearing up for major art events this fall, and collectors and art enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting them.
What about Korea?
Even the public, who used to distance themselves from the mere thought of art because of the preconceived notion that it was difficult and complex, are now responding positively to updates on social media about famous exhibitions at modern art museums, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Additionally, the popularity of art is growing to the point that exhibitions of famous artists such as Nicolas Party, Amoako Boafo, Takashi Murakami, and Louise Bourgeois are now being held in Seoul, Gyeongju, and Ulsan.
At this point, it is both timely and unique that reporter Kim Seul-gi, who has been quicker than anyone else in Korea to report art news, is compiling a list of contemporary artists that the market is paying attention to.
Those who are not familiar with art cannot develop the insight to recognize undervalued works through this book alone.
But it is enough to prepare to accept the work with an open mind.
After reading this book, you will definitely fall in love with art.
The laws of the art market that the world is paying attention to
A work of art that always appears on celebrities' collections.
It is also gaining attention as a means of financial investment because if you recognize its value early and buy it, its price will rise beyond imagination in the future.
The problem is that entering the world of collecting requires more than just an eye and financial resources.
Wouldn't it be possible to gain insight if we knew who the artists who consistently appear at collectors, art fairs, and auction houses around the world are? I can confidently say that you can't begin this book without mentioning the 24 artists featured in it.
Let's learn about the principles of how the art market works through the stories of these artists and their defining works.
The art world is particularly full of dramatic stories.
Of course, the author's life and money cannot be left out of the story.
A story about someone who was shunned by the world during their lifetime, but was loved for many years after their death, and became a very expensive artist that was out of reach of the general public, or a story about someone who had an ordinary childhood and loved painting, and who went through a long period of training and now has a work worth millions of dollars.
These behind-the-scenes stories in 『Enchanting Contemporary Art』 lower the threshold for entering the world of art.
It covers the story of how Nicolas Party, who heated up the art market, changed the fate of his paintings by falling for the charm of easily broken pastels, the technique of Flora Yukhnovic, who wisely crosses tradition and modernity between abstraction and figuration, the prolific work of Adrian Gueny, who already presented a $10 million work in his 30s, and even the works of NFT artist Beeple, who emerged in line with the times.
Of course, we can't miss the shocking Amoako Boafo auction record and the short but intense life of Matthew Wong, who became famous through Facebook.
As the art world entered a boom in 2023, the significant activities of female artists also attracted attention.
It is also interesting to learn about the lineage of kawaii art through Caroline Walker, who captured the image of a modern working woman on canvas, and Ayako Rokkaku, who is famous for her improvisational work.
The list of great writers who overcame the turbulent times presented later is even more splendid.
Beginning with the paintings of Gerhard Richter, who demonstrates that the title "King of Modern Art" is no exaggeration, and continuing with David Hockney and Ron Mueck, who recently became a hot topic at the Museum of Modern Art, this book is a veritable art fair.
The introduction of Louise Bourgeois, who will soon be exhibiting in Korea, serves as a friendly guide to understanding the artist's world through an exhibition preview.
If the price of the paintings in this book is calculated in Korean currency, they are worth 500 billion won.
This value becomes real amidst complex information ranging from Sotheby's and Christie's major auction records, the artist's life and the number of works and production methods.
Passing by art fairs and art galleries
The world of art that enriches our lives
Autumn is actually a season for art, not reading.
Freeze Seoul, which announced early bird sales, announces the start of September.
From Frieze London to Art Basel Paris, the world is gearing up for major art events this fall, and collectors and art enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting them.
What about Korea?
Even the public, who used to distance themselves from the mere thought of art because of the preconceived notion that it was difficult and complex, are now responding positively to updates on social media about famous exhibitions at modern art museums, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Additionally, the popularity of art is growing to the point that exhibitions of famous artists such as Nicolas Party, Amoako Boafo, Takashi Murakami, and Louise Bourgeois are now being held in Seoul, Gyeongju, and Ulsan.
At this point, it is both timely and unique that reporter Kim Seul-gi, who has been quicker than anyone else in Korea to report art news, is compiling a list of contemporary artists that the market is paying attention to.
Those who are not familiar with art cannot develop the insight to recognize undervalued works through this book alone.
But it is enough to prepare to accept the work with an open mind.
After reading this book, you will definitely fall in love with art.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: September 3, 2025
- Format: Paperback book binding method guide
- Page count, weight, size: 296 pages | 686g | 152*225*18mm
- ISBN13: 9788925573267
- ISBN10: 8925573261
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