History of the Art Market Summary

Bieke van Nes – 426520 History of the Art Market
February 1st, 2018

History of the Art Market Summary

Not one “art market”!
Characteristics of traded goods
 Heterogeneous goods: not one product is the same
 Supply – can be a fixed or a new supply (older artists/new artists)

Forms of market segmentation
- Primary vs secondary art market
- Organized vs unorganized
- Market segments: level of the object
- High-end vs low-end
- Local vs global market

Primary art market: first sale – galleries, dealers, artists
Secondary art market: re-sales – auction houses, art dealers

Structure of the market
 Illiquid market
 Not transparent
 Information asymmetries
 Transaction and other costs
 Market players

Market players
- Supply side: Artists, commercial institutions (galleries, auction houses),
private sellers
- Demand side (buyers): Private collectors, museums and other institutions,
corporations, governments
- Gatekeepers:
 Museums
 Art press
 Art consultants
 Art investment funds
 Academies
 Art foundations
 Governments
 Etc.

3 motivations for buying (usually a mix)
1. Art work related motivation
2. Financial motivations
3. Social reasons

The value/price of art – Art is credence good, with a value that is socially
constructed (can change over time!)




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,Bieke van Nes – 426520 History of the Art Market
February 1st, 2018



Patronage: support given by a patron
- Part of the primary art market
- New and commissioned art
- Artists > collector
- No intermediaries
- Artist’s studio
 Example: 15th century Bruges

Bruges – Important trade city
 Hub because Italian trade picked this as their headquarters in Northern Europe
 Italians introduced habit of owning/commissioning art (example Jan van
Eijck – Anolfini and his wife, marriage portrait)
 Artists started moving to Bruges
 Antwerp takes over role of Bruges, David starts selling paintings in Antwerp,
beginning of serial production

The historical origins of art fairs
- “On spec” production of art (ready-made) – not commissioned  more
catering to the lower classes!
- Early modern art fairs
- Professional dealers
- More layered/segmented market
- More international trade
 Example: 16th century Antwerp

16th century – growing demand for luxury goods, art becomes a luxury good (also
due to influence from Spain)

Antwerp – takes over from Bruges
 Portugees (spices) picked Antwerp as their Northern hub, British (cloth
dealers) and Germany (silver) follow – Antwerp becomes transit market, no
production
 “Art loves the company of wealth” – Artists go to Antwerp because there is
money – Importance of the harbor!
 Bi-annual fairs: invite foreign merchants, no extra taxes – Antwerp turns
into big trade town
 Our Lady’s Pand: special building for trade of art
- On spec paintings traded, shutters of triploid left blank for local artists
(e.g. Spain) to paint their works
- Antwerp becomes distribution center for art
 First local stock market “The Borse” – empty attic used to trade paintings (The
Schilderspand, 1540-1583), becomes especially essential after Our Lady’s Pand
burned down (1560).
- Open year-round (so not an art fair)
- Commercialization of art market
 Art fair: gives artists room to experiment, see what customers are interested in
– innovation (St. Luke’s guild, Jaarmarkt, panden)



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, Bieke van Nes – 426520 History of the Art Market
February 1st, 2018

 Infrastructure of Antwerp important for market to evolve – demand very
strong
St. Luke’s guild: Artists guild, protectionistic of own work, did not like out of
town artists coming in selling paintings  stimulated competition and production
(outside trade only allowed at Jaarmarkt, guilds lots of power)

Art fairs
Function Advantage of F2F Context
Communication High frequency Negotiating
Rapid feedback Teaching
Dialogue Non-codifiable
Sharing information information
Exchange ideas/news
Market transparency
Trust and incentives Co-presence Side by side stalls
Time commitment
Screening and socializing Loss of anonymity Testing the market
Judging and buying Peer evaluation
assessed Professional groups
Social networks
Formation of the canon
Being ‘in the loop’
Collaboration Shared goals Partnerships
Putting-out system
Joint ventures

17th century: War – Antwerp becomes isolated, no more merchants travelling to
Antwerp, dip in art fair popularity (Antwerp again relevant today)

Art fairs today
 Proliferation on global scale
 Response to hegemony of auction houses
 Social event
 Generates tourism and reputation
 Supply meets demand
 Reduces search and transaction costs
 Exposure
 Increased credibility
 Allows for experimentation and information exchange
 Marketing tool
 Engine and barometer of globalization

Art trade in the Middle Ages
- Commission exchange
- Gift exchange
- Versus market exchange
- Influence guilds



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