76
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The A.V. ClubAllison ShoemakerThe A.V. ClubAllison ShoemakerThe master stroke of The Price Of Everything is that it asks the viewer, in Cappellazzo’s words, to see the intricacies of the art world and the way those two seemingly oppositional forces — the financial side and the creative side — are inextricably intertwined.
- 90VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanThe Price of Everything exalts in the spirt of art over commerce, yet what’s thrilling about the film — and what echoes in your mind after it’s over — is that it captures all the ways those two forces can’t be separated.
- Kahn is a quiet filmmaker, and he gently prods his sources to go beyond the typical art world hyperbole of “gorgeous” and “wonderful.” And in a cool, clear-eyed way, he reveals how the $400-million sausage is made, how capitalism has turned art from idea into inventory.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreNathaniel Kahn’s collected interviews with artists, hype-driven dealers, well-heeled collectors and art historians and visits to Sotheby’s and the Frieze Art Fair and elsewhere give us the scale of the business, the birth of competitive modern art collecting and a sense of the recent history of this winner-take-all playground of the richest of the rich.
- 75Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenThe film understands that money is a defining element of art-making, whether or not we wish to admit it.
- 75Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonPhiladelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonKahn surveys artists, dealers, auctioneers, and gallery operators to provide a synopsis of the New York art world, and is at its most interesting when profiling artists who represent differing attitudes toward the way money affects their work.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMore conversational than journalistic in spirit, it avoids hard statistics (and the reasons those stats can be hard to come by) in favor of well-informed impressions and anecdotes. Though not the first doc to note the insanity surrounding this subject, it is easily accessible to non-insiders and holds interest even for those who follow art closely.
- 70The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottWhile this colorful and inquisitive cinematic essay on the state of the art world is occasionally skeptical and consistently thoughtful, cynicism isn’t really on its agenda.
- 63RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyRogerEbert.comTomris LafflyUnlike Kahn’s acclaimed and much tidier 2003 documentary “My Architect,” The Price of Everything has a meandering nature and explores one too many avenues in building a thesis, while losing the viewer in the midst at times.
- 63Boston GlobeMark FeeneyBoston GlobeMark FeeneyThe documentary has its memorable moments. Period footage of the now-legendary 1973 auction of contemporary art by the collector Robert Scull is riveting.