Reviews

"Particulary intriguing and new is Petri's energetic compilation of market information; each chapter commences with a section called 'statistics and figures', interpreted by the author with the help of a variety of graphs. In more general terms, this investigation into the art world in which Whistler operated is an important contribution to the increasingly sophisticated literature on Victorian art networks. 'Arrangement in Business' adds fresh evidence and international scope to such classic works as Harrison and Cynthia White's 'Canvasses and Careers', of 1965, and Paula Gillett's 'The Victorian Painter's World, of 1990." -- Martha Tedeschi, Print Quarterly, XXIX, 2012, 3

"For instance, the relationship of etchings to portraits, with their specific exhibitions and patrons, is particularly convincing. The analysis of seriality in Whistlers art is original, and suggestive of methods used to brand some of societys other consumables. The performative nature of Whistlers art in relation to ist audience, to exhibitions and art criticism, is well documented and persuasively presented. Had this book been published twenty-five years ago, it might have had an influence in the real world, rather than merely a common topic for academic discussion. Conceived to compete with the Google age, to be scanned as much as read, it nevertheless contains a mine of valuable information, which is supported by a bibliography running to thirty-two double-column pages, as well as more than three thousand footnotes the knowledge of several lifetimes." -- Robin Spencer, The Burlington Magazine, CLIV, December 2012