Category: Publications

PUB: ‘How to become a judgment device: valuation practices and the role of auctions in the emerging Chinese art market’, Socio-Economic Review, 16 (3), 2018, pp. 459-477 by Svetlana Kharchenkova & Olav Velthuis

Published on by Art Market Studies

We are very happy to let you know about this publication by Svetlana Kharchenkova & Olav Velthuis!

This article studies the role of judgment devices in the emergence of markets for singularities. In particular, it seeks to understand how specific judgment devices become dominant in resolving uncertainty within these markets. Building on Karpik’s seminal theory, we argue that institutional environments (e.g. government regulations, political-economic factors, the level of informality within business environments) as well as the level of expertise of consumers, co-determine which devices come to be used in new markets. Empirically, we focus on the emerging market for contemporary art in China. While auctions and auction prices are widely used in valuing contemporary art in China, this is highly illegitimate in international art markets. We argue that auctions act as a judgment device in China because of strong government backing, because other validating organizations, such as museums and art critics, are seen as untrustworthy, and because auctions send strong, easily interpretable signals to novice collectors.

More information can be found here!

PUB: Special Issue on Global Art Markets, Poetics, vol. 71, pp. 1-94, 2018.

Published on by Art Market Studies

We are delighted to share this new publication edited by TIAMSA President, Olav Velthuis and his colleague Amanda Brandellero:

Special Issue on Global Art Markets, Poetics, vol. 71, pp. 1-94, 2018.

With contributions by Patricia Banks, Larissa Buchholz, Nataliya Komarova, Virág Molnár, Svetlana Kharchenkova and Olga Kanzaki Sooudi.

More information on this publication can be found here

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PUB: ‘Local contexts as activation mechanisms of market development: contemporary art in emerging markets’ by Nataliya Komarova & Olav Velthuis

Published on by Art Market Studies

Is available to read here!

The paper studies how local contexts contribute to the emergence of markets. In particular, it explains how potential entrepreneurs are motivated to become active in establishing new markets. Empirically, the focus is on contemporary art markets in two emerging countries: India and Russia. The paper draws upon qualitative interviews with 65 contemporary art dealers conducted in New Delhi, Mumbai, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. We show how different socio-cultural contexts function as activation mechanisms: in India, family backgrounds predominantly structure the decision-making processes, among others through the economic, social and cultural capital which these families provide. In Russia, by contrast, such family background is non-existent. Instead, the socio-economic turmoil of 1990s and 2000s as well as the strong involvement of the state function as activation mechanisms. We suggest that these different activation mechanisms contribute to explaining the diverging market performance in both countries.

Enoy!

CFP: Stedelijk Studies 9: Modernism in Migration

Published on by Art Market Studies

Deadline: Feb 20, 2019

Stedelijk Studies 9 (Fall 2019):

Modernism in Migration: Relocating Artists, Objects and Institutions, 1900–1960

THEME OUTLINE
In the production and reception of art, processes of migration play a crucial role. This is particularly true for modernism and the historical avant-gardes of the twentieth century, when artists’ transnational networks and migrations across countries and continents greatly impacted artistic developments. Besides artists and agents such as art dealers and art historians, works of art and art institutions also migrated. For an upcoming issue of Stedelijk Studies, we invite scholars to explore forms of migration and their influence on the development and dissemination of modern art around the world from 1900–1960.

Continue reading “CFP: Stedelijk Studies 9: Modernism in Migration” →

PUB: ‘Studies in the History of Collecting and Art Markets – A Study in the Social History of Art’ (Vol. 5) by Paolo Coen

Published on by Art Market Studies

We are very pleased to offer TIAMSA Members 25% discount on this wonderful publication – for details and further information, please log into your TIAMSA Members Area!

Recent interest in the economic aspects of the history of art have taken traditional studies into new areas of enquiry. Going well beyond provenances or prices of individual objects, our understanding of the arts has been advanced by research into the demands, intermediaries and clients in the market.
Eighteenth-century Rome offers a privileged view of such activities, given the continuity of remarkable investments by the local ruling class, combined with the decisive impact of external agents, largely linked to the Grand Tour. This book, the result of collaboration between international specialists, brings back into the spotlight protagonists, facts and dynamics that have remained unexplored for many years.

For more information click here

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The Central Collecting Point in Munich: A New Beginning for the Restitution and Protection of Art | Institute of English Studies

Published on by Nirmalie Mulloli

Hollywood has told the story of how Monuments Men retrieved artworks that had been looted by Nazis. Newly discovered archival information brings to life the untold story of what they did next at the U.S. Army’s Office of Military Government at the Central Collecting Point (CCP) in Munich. How did the so-called ‘Monuments Men’ transform the war-damaged former Nazi Party headquarters in Munich into the largest ‘museum’ and greatest art history project that had ever been undertaken? How did they create the incredible expertise to identify the artworks? How did they build the infrastructure to restitute the objects? And, as millennia of priceless treasures of European cultural heritage were being gathered under one war-damaged roof, who could be trusted?

Dr Iris Lauterbach presents her new research on the events, people, and intrigue of the Munich CCP in the crucial years 1945–1949. Based on previously unpublished records, archives, and photographs, she uncovers the stories of the people who worked there at a time of lingering political suspicions. In this talk, she narrates the fascinating knowledge-building, conservation, and restitution processes. It is also the remarkable story of the foundation of Germany’s Central Institute for Art History: the library that powered the CCP’s knowledge base has grown into the one of the world’s largest art history reference libraries, where she is a researcher.

Events

29 January 2019: Lecture and Book Launch

The lecture will take place on 29 January 2019, 6-7pm, followed by a reception for the UK book launch of Iris Lauterbach’s The Central Collecting Point in Munich: A New Beginning for the Restitution and Protection of Art, translated by Fiona Elliott, with an introduction by James J. Sheehan (Getty Publications, 2018). The respondent is Dr Johannes von Müller (Warburg Institute). The convener is Dr Elizabeth Savage (Institute of English Studies).

Free, all welcome, RSVP here. 

PUB: Acquiring Cultures. Histories of World Art on Western Markets, De Gruyter

Published on by Nirmalie Mulloli
Bookcover – Acquiring Cultures (2018)

As more parts of the world became accessible to the West, a fast-growing number of exotic artefacts entered European markets from the 18th century. Facilitated by social and technological changes, the markets for such objects thrived, while a collecting culture and museums emerged. This book focuses on methods and places of exchange, monetary and ideological value, actors and networks, transfer and transport, prices and expertise, while exploring 300 years and four continents.  Based on a symposium in Berlin, the publication will include contributions by Felicity Bodenstein, Ting Chang, Manuel Charpy, Nélia Dias, Natasha Eaton, Noëmie Etienne, Jonathan Fine, Christine Howald, Philip Jones, Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, Ying-chen Peng, Léa Saint-Raymond and Élodie Vaudry, and Masako Yamamoto.

For more information click here