NEW YORK, NY.- Art world authority Doug Woodham – former President, Americas for Christie’s Auction House and Partner at McKinsey & Company – releases his first book, Art Collecting Today: Market Insights for Everyone Passionate About Art, which demystifies the art market. Drawing upon decades of experience across the worlds of art and finance, art industry expert Woodham provides clear, concise, and invaluable insights for collectors and market professionals into a lightly regulated industry with over 60 billion dollars of annual sales. Informed by close to 100 interviews with collectors, lawyers, art advisors, gallerists, and auction specialists in the United States and Europe, and the author’s personal experiences, the book – published April 2017 – offers a lively and thought-provoking analysis of the day-to-day workings at play throughout the fine art marketplace.

Grounded in Woodham’s expertise as an economist and decades of experience in the art world, Art Collecting Today explores how to smartly navigate the art market with insight for both the seasoned art world professional and the uninitiated newcomer. Along with explanations of how value is determined, different collecting strategies, and the recent history of the market for contemporary art, the book delves into real world examples such as the high-profile De Sole vs. Knoedler fraud case and the Detroit Institute of Arts brush with bankruptcy. Woodham’s unique perspective on the behind-the-scenes practices of auction houses is clearly reflected in his breakdown of such key events as the activist investor campaign at Sotheby’s led by Dan Loeb’s company Third Point, the historic sale of the Robert and Ethel Scull collection, and the record-breaking auction guarantee for the Alfred Taubman collection sale that went awry. Along with case studies on how the market works for such essential artists as Rene Magritte, Christopher Wool, and Yayoi Kusama, he also explores the impact of cultural property laws on the global market for works by Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol.

Discussing his passion for art, and inspiration to research and publish Art Collecting Today: Market Insights for Everyone Passionate About Art, Doug Woodham commented: “My personal experience with art began at a very early age when a girlfriend’s father opened an art gallery in my hometown of Toledo, Ohio. By fifteen, I became the youngest member of a group of collectors that met to discuss the goings-on in the art world. These early experiences shaped my passion for art. Having personally experienced the pleasures and pitfalls of collecting and having observed the evolving topography of the art world as an auction house and financial industry professional, I hope this book will serve to open the world of art to more people by providing useful advice on how best to traverse this opaque marketplace.”

With a direct and engaging tone, Woodham provides a behind-the-scenes look at the oftentimes convoluted art world, reflecting wisdom gleaned from seasoned art collectors and advice on ways to evaluate, buy, and sell art. Examples of collectors being taken advantage of are shared throughout the book, along with actions that they can take to protect themselves and thus be able to pursue their passion with more confidence.

Doug Woodham has had a lifelong interest in art, business, and collecting. A trained economist with a PhD from the University of Michigan, Woodham served as President of the Americas for Christie’s Auction House. Earlier in his career he was a partner with McKinsey & Company working with asset and wealth management firms. He currently sits on the board of the arts venture Twyla. He also continues his advocacy for collectors by advising private clients on legacy planning associated with their art collections, including helping them to assess alternative disposition strategies. Woodham and his wife are avid collectors, with a focus on artists associated with minimalism and conceptualism who came to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s.