Joyce Carol Oates calls this 'the quasi-tragic history of an era.' Lacey Yeager is young, beautiful, and ambitious. She started at Sotheby's as a cataloguer of 19th century paintings. She was one of those girls, like Daisy in "The Great Gatsby," who seemed to move in a ray of light. She wooed women and men alike, rich and richer, using street smarts, a remote promise of sex, and good taste.The title is a play on words - fine art, modern art are clearly objects of beauty that can be enjoyed by casual viewing; the wealthy can even own these objects as status symbols; Lacey makes of herself an object of beauty in order to get ahead. She wants a piece of the action, at any cost. In fact, she may be drawn as a personification of what has happened to the art world over the last several decades. This is further supported by the fact that Lacey doesn't narrate this story - the narrator finds her an enigma, a personification, more an object than a person.In its most simple sense, people buy paintings b/c they love/desire them, because they are beautiful, because they appeal to them. Lacey and a large part of the art world saw a way to make a profit, esp on highly fickle modern art fads - paintings as money, as status, as a first world commodity. This shuffling of paintings is basically a form of gambling, w/ very high monetary stakes and crazy variability, because prices could still go up based on unpredictable emotion. Bubbles of popularity, unpredictable, made the art inherently worth less.This is a book for people who love art, first. It is different than Martin's other work - I don't predict that one would like this if one liked the others, necessarily.*spoiler alert*Bad things Lacey does to get ahead:--She effectively steals a piece of art her family believes to be a print but is actually the original painting by Maxfield Parrish--She creates a false bidder and has her friend (the narrator) bid against a real buyer, driving the price up falsely--She throws people away; she knows her behavior makes them love her, and then she tosses them away like so much garbage, implying that if they are hurt it is their problem, not hers Having read essays by Steve Martin, I expected competent writing from An Object of Beauty. I did not expected fine literature. Martin skillfully pulls back the curtain on those working in the Manhattan art world. He exposes us to circles of people who are foreign to many of us, but does so without painting them as bigger-than-life figures who have no failings or vulnerabilities. Instead, his characters are brilliant one minute, foolish the next; they take advantage of this person, then are taken advantage of by that person; they win, then they lose. Just like in real life. Yet, real life never had such a beautiful backdrop.
What do You think about An Object Of Beauty (2010)?
Steve Martin has MANY talents! Great book about a decade of the art selling scene in New York City!!
—Hadley
The writing was a bit overly descriptive for my taste but a really fun read nonetheless.
—areely
I love everything Steve Martin. Fascinating book about the art world.
—tory
I almost always finish books, but I couldn't finish this one.
—devique
Steve Martin made me want to keep reading this.
—Generica
