Art and Money

Focusing on what binds together and drives apart the realms of art and money, this book investigates how money becomes (or is) artwork and how artwork comes to assume some of the characteristics of money. Unlike traditional approaches to the topic, this book is not a study of money and exchange as an artistic "theme." It is also not a study of economics as a context for the history of art. Rather, it is an exploration of the internal logic - the set of meanings and values - common to both money and art. This work provides insight into current matters of art collection, counterfeiting and problems of attribution, into the general relation between word and image, and into controversies over taxation and crises or scandals in the financial world. Covering a wide historical range, Shell includes amusing anecdotes and insights ranging from the relic of the Holy Foreskin to the state's arrest of J.S.G. Boggs, a conceptual artist who draws money.