In theory, I should like this book. It’s about the corruption of what Rachel Spence calls Planet Art, that, is museums and galleries, and there’s a lot of it about. It extends from the grossly inflated prices given to rubbish artefacts at auction, to the use of cultural philanthropy to elevate the social importance of controversial individuals such as Len Blavatnik and the Sackler family. Throw in the present, problematic funding formula for UK institutions — a third of funding from the Government so long as the museums and galleries raise a third from sales and a third from donors — and I’m right there with her. Patronage has always been a manifestation of power, from Maecenas to the Medicis, but we’ve rarely had such undiscerning patrons of art or such cynical purveyors of it.
