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The History of Art Markets

In: Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture

Author

Listed:
  • De Marchi, Neil
  • Van Miegroet, Hans J.

Abstract

Treating markets as arenas where relative advantage is contested, this entry explores the emergence and evolution of Western markets for paintings, 1450-1750, in terms of the players, their creative moves to secure gain, and the rules they devised to maintain order. Primary markets for paintings arose as a derivative of the commission market for one-off, mainly religious paintings in places such as Florence and Bruges, in the second half of the 15th century. Demand from foreign merchants eager to obtain works in the new medium, oil, gave Bruges an edge. So did a demand for easel paintings on thin linen, and even in oil on panel, as cheap substitutes for tapestries. Variety and cost also played a role. Emulation among differently-trained artists generated novel products plus extraordinary cost reductions, and painters discovered a latent demand among the less wealthy. Some novel products were exported, as were new techniques. The retail market in Florence was limited in size and largely confined to serving a need for cheaper versions of unique, public commissions. A mass demand for paintings across the social spectrum occurred principally in Northern cities: e.g., Antwerp, and later Amsterdam, though also in Spain. Resale markets followed retail with a lag, recycled paintings being handled by second-hand clothes dealers. This sequence - commission nexus, cost-reduction and novel sorts of paintings, mass retail, then resale markets - occurred in cities across Europe. As mass markets emerged, so too did specialist dealers. A large part of the entry is devoted to detailing their creative marketing moves. There were tensions as to whether only artists might sell, but demand mostly overrode guild reluctance to relinquish control of distribution. Widespread distribution came to require efficient sales mechanisms, hence public sales and auctions. The entry explores auction rules and techniques within the broader sequence identified above.

Suggested Citation

  • De Marchi, Neil & Van Miegroet, Hans J., 2006. "The History of Art Markets," Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, in: V.A. Ginsburgh & D. Throsby (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Art and Culture, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 69-122, Elsevier.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:artchp:1-03
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David, Géraldine & Li, Yuexin & Oosterlinck, Kim & Renneboog, Luc, 2021. "Art in Times of Crisis," Other publications TiSEM 34925083-7378-4691-ba63-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Ennio E. Piano & Tanner Hardy, 2022. "Rent seeking and the decline of the Florentine school," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 192(1), pages 59-78, July.
    3. Etro, Federico, 2024. "Art and Markets in the Greco-Roman World," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(2), pages 432-478, June.
    4. Brian Wansink & Anupama Mukund & Andrew Weislogel, 2016. "Food Art Does Not Reflect Reality," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(3), pages 21582440166, July.
    5. Lasse Steiner & Bruno S. Frey & Magnus Resch, 2014. "Who Collects Art? An International Empirical Assessment," CREMA Working Paper Series 2014-03, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    6. Michel Serafinelli & Guido Tabellini, 2022. "Creativity over time and space," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1-43, March.
    7. Federico Etro & Elena Stepanova, 2017. "Art collections and taste in the Spanish Siglo de Oro," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(3), pages 309-335, August.
    8. Jun Zhang, 2017. "Commodifying art, Chinese style: The making of China’s visual art market," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(9), pages 2025-2045, September.
    9. Cellini, Roberto & Cuccia, Tiziana, 2014. "The artist–art dealer relationship as a marketing channel," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 57-69.
    10. Federico Etro & Elena Stepanova, 2016. "Entry of painters in the Amsterdam market of the Golden Age," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 317-348, May.
    11. Cellini, Roberto & Martorana, Marco Ferdinando & Platania, Felicita, 2014. "The multi-product nature of the firm in the arts sector: A case study on ‘Centro Zo’," MPRA Paper 60677, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Li, Yuexin, 2021. "Pricing art: Returns, trust, and crises," Other publications TiSEM 8832c172-83dd-4ed9-8215-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Victor Ginsburgh & Henry Bounameaux, 2008. "The Belgian Art Market," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/152108, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Z19 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Other

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