Discuss the extent to which the international art market is a regulator in the post academy art world. To what extent does the market limit the supply of art and antiques and separate good art from junk art?

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                                                                       Marta Queiroga de Sousa Cabral

                                                       MA Museum & Gallery Management; 2002, full-time

     Art Markets Module

Professor Dr. Iain Robertson

        5th June 2003

Discuss the extent to which the international art market is a regulator in the post academy art world. To what extent does the market limit the supply of art and antiques and separate good art from junk art?

CONTENTS

 Introduction                                                 3

Analysis of the art market                            5

Conclusion                                                 13          

Bibliography                                              15    

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The present assignment has the purpose of showing elements, which can contribute, in a general view, to the development of the art market and also falling on responsibilities with all those participants of the art market.

It will be the result of critical reflection that it will turn into a training moment.

The main aims of this review are to acquire an understanding of the conditions of the art market and to develop a critical knowledge of the commercial art world and the relevant international market.

The idea that the international art market is a regulator in the post academy art world has implications on the formation of prices and values in the art market, due to the macroeconomic reality, political and cultural changes of this period.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the Académie des Beaux-Arts continued to produce many important artists. It lost its power only at the turn of the century when it failed to acknowledge radical styles such as Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. The downfall of academic art also was hastened by economic changes in the art market, which included the growth of independent exhibitions and the development of private sales galleries.

Over these years, the unsettled system of financial market which the art market became part of has evolved into a greater conscience of the complex behaviour of the individual in his  

The commercial market economy has been favourable for the development of the arts.

Therefore, the market limits the supply of art and antiques studying the consumer economic preference.

Hence, market segmentation, division of labour and specialisation caused a division between high and low culture, and separate good art from junk art.

In this way, the art market should select the talented artists in a free and wealthy society that allows a very large number of artists to have more opportunities becoming financially independent and to acquire artistic freedom.

Although, the role played by the dealer in the market, as cultural entrepreneur, is important for maintain the value of the product.

In this instance, how best the international art market can be organized, what is the best way to balance the supply of art and what is the market’s purpose through the dissociation of good art from junk art.

The market must restrict the supply of art and antiques selecting the talented artists, good art, thereafter raising the relative value of a work of art.

Therefore and based on this statement, this essay will consider arguments for the market as the regulator of the supply of art and point out some of the problems with this market’s function

                                               «What is considered art changes over time...»

                                                                                                                    Bruno Frey

The term “art market” is refering to the “organisation through which works of art, modern or antique, are distributed by auction-houses, dealers or private buyers”.

The international art market is based upon individual players whose motives are ultimately the maximisation of art.

In this way, the market developed into the international scope due to the proliferation of the figures of dealers and auction houses, whose international work in Holland, England, France and Italy became recognised in nineteenth century.

Hence, Academic art, serving as a bridge period between the Baroque and Early Modern era, was essential the comprehension of new ideas about art and its periodisation, the extension of subject matter and development of technique, and the new interaction of public and patrons with artists. 

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Many of the characteristics of nineteenth century Academic Art – small scale, storytelling, realism and high finish – reflected changes in the art market. The political and cultural authority of church, government and aristocracy, the industrial revolution and emergence of a large commercial middle class, along with an unprecedented expansion of living space, stimulated an increase in the demand for decorations and art.

There were fewer large-scale commissions and artists sought to appeal to a new group of patrons: wealthy, middle-class art lovers. These new collectors acquired art for personal enjoyment, to decorate their homes, and to demonstrate their cultured ...

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