coslor three art controversies (slides) 28 jan09
DESCRIPTION
Sociological study of the contemporary art marketTRANSCRIPT
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Hostile Worlds, Questionable Speculation & Contests of MeaningThree Types of Controversies Around Art
Erica CoslorDoctoral Candidate, University of ChicagoUniversity of Edinburgh Sociology Seminar
January 28, 2009All pictures and charts are the intellectual property of their creators; They are included in this presentation for educational purposes only.
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Overview
• Hostile Worlds – Art & Money• Questionable Speculation – Art Investment• Control of the Biography & the Prestige
Allocation System• Contests of Meaning – Art in Movement
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Does Money Corrupt?Hostile Worlds vs. Independent Spheres
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‘Superprices’
‘Surfing Nurse’ by Richard PrinceSold for over £2.1 m in 2003
‘Oh S---’ by Damien HirstSold for over £2.3 b in Sept.
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Questionable Speculation
Stocks
Bonds
Commodities
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Mei/Moses Chart
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Financializing Art
Stocks Bonds CommoditiesArt
Art InvestmentFunds
Financial Asset Classes
Repackaging Quantification & Measurement
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Competing Arenas
Auction Houses40% of Sales
Art Galleries60% of Sales
Sales of high-end contemporary art. Sources: interviews, Wall Street Journal
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The Exchange Biography of Art
Museums
EstablishedCollectors
Artists ArtGalleries
‘GoodInvestors’
‘Speculators’ Art Auctions
Block Sales
Speculative Circuit
Long-Term Value Construction Circuit
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Control of the Biography“We only sell to people that we know and trust.
If it is a seminal piece in an artist’s oeuvre then we only sell to certain trusted people. But, if it is a less established artist [or] work
of lesser importance then we are more open. We do encourage new collectors, but at the same time it is difficult, as we need to trust
them. We sell to people who will come to us before selling to anyone else.”
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Prestige Allocation
“You can’t walk into Victoria Miro, and go, ‘I’d like this.’ …they’ll say, ‘Well, first of all,
we’ve sold out this show a month before we put it up. Second of all, there’s a two-year waiting list for this artist’s work. And
third of all, who are you? Can we have your name?”
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Elite and Elistist“Yes, I mean it is something that I really dislike,
but it is something that is really cultivated as well. [Galleries] covet this mystique. They have a policy of not selling to new clients. You cannot just approach them and buy.
There are waiting lists for all of the work that they sell. It may be the case that this is
genuine, but I think it is all manufactured. People have this natural instinct to want what
they can’t have.”
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Circulation & Contests of MeaningWhat happens when art moves to a different context?
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Conclusions
• Contested commodity concerns are widely held and do matter.
• Hostile worlds are not the only relevant concern.• Speculative art buying is opposed for more
pragmatic reasons by art world insiders. • Meaning comes through context, and when art
moves, there can be a struggle over whether something is lost through that lack of context.
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Thank you!
Presentation based on conference paper submitted to Arts, Culture & the Public Sphere,
Venice, Italy
Erica [email protected]
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Selected References• Bolger (2006). "Is it just art, or is it investment?“• Chancellor, E. (2007). Popping the Art Bubble. The
Sunday Times. London: News Review: 8.• Velthuis, O. (2003). "Symbolic meanings of prices.
Constructing the value of contemporary art in Amsterdam and New York galleries." Theory and Society 32: 181-215.
• Velthuis, O. (2005). Talking Prices: Symbolic Meanings of Prices on the Market for Contemporary Art. Princeton, Princeton University Press.
See the full paper for more sources.
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Competing Exchange Motives?
Profit-Seeking Exchange
Long-Term Value Construction for Art
‘Speculation’Short-Term Profits
(Problematic)
‘Investment’Long-Term Profits
(Acceptable & Expected)
LT-VALUEDAMAGING
LT-VALUEENHANCING
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Additional Conclusions
Q: When is ‘Investment’ in Contemporary Art Acceptable to Galleries?
A: When you play by the rules of the gallery system– Long time horizon – No ‘flipping’ pieces– Work with the gallery – No arbitrage at
auction– Work within established networks
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Comparing Returns
Chart Source: Hutter, Knebel, Pietzner, & Schäfer, 2007. Two games in town: a comparison of dealer and auction prices in contemporary visual arts markets.
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Work on Art Pricing Strategies
• O’Neil 2008. “Bringing art to market: The diversity of pricing styles in a local art market” Poetics 36: 94-113
• Velthuis 2005. Talking Prices. Princeton.