Understanding International Art Markets

"Understanding International Art Markets and Management focuses on the visual art market--sculpture, paintings, drawings, prints--and examines the major transitions that have affected this market." -- t.p. verso.

This groundbreaking text brings together experts in the field of visual art markets to answer some fundamental questions: Is art a good investment? Why is the art market dominated by America and Western Europe? Where are the key emerging markets and what are the next good buys in art? Providing readers with an understanding of the challenges facing art market 'makers' (dealers, auctioneers, collectors and artists) and the decision-making process experienced by market 'players' and investors, this exciting text merges the key theories with examples of practice in a highly accessible style. Written by an international array of experts from the US, the UK and China, this book is essential reading for all those studying or interested in art markets and management.

The global art market has recently been valued at close to $50bn - a rise of over 60% since the global financial crisis. These figures are driven by demand from China and other emerging markets, as well as the growing phenomenon of the artist bypassing dealers as a market force in his/her own right. This new textbook integrates, updates and enhances the popular aspects of two well-regarded texts - Understanding International Arts Markets and The Art Business. Topics covered include: Emerging markets in China, East Asian, South East Asian, Brazilian, Russian, Islamic and Indian art, Art valuation and investment, Museums and the cultural sector. This revitalized new textbook will continue to be essential reading for students on courses such as arts management, arts marketing, arts business, cultural economics, the sociology of arts, and cultural policy.

Assessing art's potential as an investment, this book offers an overview and evaluation of the world's art markets. It includes the history of art investment, buying patterns and future trends for different countries and asks whether different art categories offer better potential for future returns.

Researching Art Markets brings together a scholars from several, various disciplinary perspectives. In doing so, this collection offers a unique multi-disciplinary contribution that disentangles some of the key aspects and trends in art market practices from the past to nowadays, namely art collectors, the artist as an entrepreneur and career paths, and the formation and development of new markets. In understanding the global art market as an ecosystem, the book also examines how research and perceptions have evolved over time. Within the frameworks of contemporary social, economic and political contexts, issues such as business practices, the roles of market participants and the importance of networks are analysed by scholars of different disciplines. With insights from across the humanities and social sciences, the book explores how different methods can coexist to create an interdisciplinary international community of knowledge and research on art markets. Moreover, by providing historical as well as contemporary examples, this book explores the continuum and diversity of the art market. Overall, this book provides a valuable tool for understanding art markets within their wider context. The volume is of interest to scholars researching into the cultural and creative industries from a wider perspective.

Epigraph -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Technical and structural mechanisms -- The structure of art commodity markets -- Art, religion, history and money -- Legal and ethical issues -- The markets for art -- The modern and impressionist market : the politics of success -- International contemporary art : an art world explanation of its value -- Chinese taste for chinese art -- Old masters : a gradual change in values -- External factors -- Art valuation and investment -- The public cultural domain : the state, museums and the built environment -- The evolution of craft into art

Originally published in 2011, Iain Robertson's A New Art from Emerging Markets introduced and examined three types of emerging markets for contemporary art: the very recently established, the maturing and the mature. This fully revised second edition not only updates the reader on this rapidly evolving market, but also adds important new sections on South America - focusing on Brazil, Mexico, Columbia and Cuba - on Nigeria, South Africa and Qatar. Besides the temporal aspect, it discusses how size and speed of growth provide other means of establishing where the market is placed. As well as providing a survey of emerging art markets throughout the world, the book is concerned with looking at how value in non-Western contemporary art is constructed largely by external political events and economic factors rather than aesthetic considerations. For instance, Dubai's political risk has increased markedly with the threat of a terrorist attack in the Emirate: this has repercussions for one of the world's newest art-market hubs and will undoubtedly affect the progress of prices for Middle Eastern and Indian art. The book also considers whether it is better to let a new art market grow organically, driven by commercial imperatives, or for the government to step in to construct a cultural and economic infrastructure within which an art market can be placed. Written accessibly and engagingly, the book presents emerging art-market scenarios that offer the collector, investor, speculator, observer and culturally interested individual an insight into where the new markets are and how they are likely to develop.