NEW! London's ArtLand: Auction Houses, Dealers, the Mega Wealthy, Naked Greed and Some Good & Bad Art (Not Suitable for Younger Children)

Hello. I’m Justin, a GuruWalk guide offering 6 tours with around 1,500 ratings, averaging 5 stars. ArtLand is my newest tour. 

London and New York are the twin art capitals of the world, both offering a unique combination of top-level museums, auction houses, private galleries, elite art dealers and an abundance of super rich.

So why is one painting worth £1,000, a second £100,000 and a third £100 million? Certainly not because of the intrinsic artistic merit of any particular painting! 

To find the true answer, I'll lead you through London's wealthiest streets and explain how the art market works. ArtLand is an Alice in Wonderland world where nothing is as it seems! 

At the centre of ArtLand are the 4 most prestigious London auctioneers: 1) Sothebys, 2) Christies, 3) Philipps & 4) Bonhams. We will walk past all four, and I will try to visit at least one with you depending on their viewing schedules. 

I will also explain how London's art dealers profit from modern & contemporary art, led by another Big Four: 1) Gagosian, 2) Hauser & Wirth, 3) Pace & 4) David Zwirner. As we walk around Mayfair, we will also pass down Cork Street, which probably has the highest concentration of art galleries in town, all free and all open to the public. 

Some dealers prefer the term "gallerist" particularly those promoting the new work of living artists, and we will try to visit one of those galleries as well such as Jay Jopling's White Cube in St James's (Jopling launched the careers of the famed YBAs, young British artists, such as Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin). 

The market for modern & contemporary art is the most unregulated market in the world, Join me as I pull back the curtain on London's ArtLand, the Wild West of capitalism, red in tooth and claw, where anything goes as long as it makes money.