Unconcealed: The International Network of Conceptual Artists 1967-1977 - Dealers, Exhibitions and Public Collections

Is success in the art world all about talent - or all about who knows whom? This fascinating book may confirm what many suspect as it tells the story of the growth of Conceptual art in Europe from 1967 to 1977. Using meticulously detailed data, author Sophie Richard shows how a close-knit network of artists, dealers, collectors and curators, working with exhibition presenters and public collections, created a movement.

Rather than taking the usual art-historical approach to chronicling a style or school, Richard follows the money and the connections. Using Conceptual artists like Carl Andre, Marcel Broodthaers, Gilbert & George and Richard Long as examples, she traces the sales and exhibitions of each artist in selected European galleries and museums, compiling previously unpublished information on buyers, sellers and prices in comprehensive databases.

From the First Cologne Kunstmarkt in 1967, to museum shows around Europe, to magazines publishing articles about these up-and-coming artists and PhD dissertations on their work, Richard tracks the trail of influence and taste, and its confirmation by the academic establishment. She takes readers behind the scenes in the galleries and museums of New York, London, Brussels, and Paris, and even reveals contracts the artists signed.

This ground-breaking book exposes the new dealing, curatoria, and collecting methods formed in the 1960s and 70s that continue to make the art world go 'round today.