The first English translation of Karel Teige's The Art Market, in two volumes, includes a critical introduction, inquiries, and extensive commentary. Originally published in Czech in 1936, The Art Market is a comprehensive summary of Teige's artistic, political, and theoretical work.

Hailed as one of the leading theorists of avant-garde art and architecture between the two world wars, Teige's more political writings remain largely undiscovered. Written in 1936, against the backdrop of a burgeoning right-wing conservative culture and during intense debates between avant-garde artists and the Communist Party, *The Art Market* is a response to the capitulation of contemporary art to fascist and Stalinist currents. Teige analyzes this reaction as deeply ingrained in bourgeois culture, which he sees as “incapable of creating and inspiring any kind of art other than hollow, pompous academicism or sentimental kitsch.” Teige’s Marxist analysis of the art market reveals how this culture is intertwined with capitalist institutions and offers artistic and political strategies for opposing its absolutism. In the current bellicose culture of authoritarian neoliberalism, where the contemporary art market is run by oligarchs, Karel Teige's radical critique of the art market is more relevant than ever.

133 pages

English text

12.5 x 21 cm