Talking Prices

Symbolic Meanings of Prices on the Market for Contemporary Art

Häftad, Engelska, 2007

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How do dealers price contemporary art in a world where objective criteria seem absent? Talking Prices is the first book to examine this question from a sociological perspective. On the basis of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, including interviews with art dealers in New York and Amsterdam, Olav Velthuis shows how contemporary art galleries juggle the contradictory logics of art and economics. In doing so, they rely on a highly ritualized business repertoire. For instance, a sharp distinction between a gallery's museumlike front space and its businesslike back space safeguards the separation of art from commerce. Velthuis shows that prices, far from being abstract numbers, convey rich meanings to trading partners that extend well beyond the works of art. A high price may indicate not only the quality of a work but also the identity of collectors who bought it before the artist's reputation was established. Such meanings are far from unequivocal. For some, a high price may be a symbol of status; for others, it is a symbol of fraud.Whereas sociological thought has long viewed prices as reducing qualities to quantities, this pathbreaking and engagingly written book reveals the rich world behind these numerical values. Art dealers distinguish different types of prices and attach moral significance to them. Thus the price mechanism constitutes a symbolic system akin to language.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2007-08-19
Mått152 x 235 x 17 mm
Vikt397 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
SeriePrinceton Studies in Cultural Sociology
Antal sidor280
FörlagPrinceton University Press
ISBN9780691134031

Tillhör följande kategorier

Sociologi inom Samhalle och politik
Media och underhållning inom Ekonomi och ledarskap
Konsthistoria inom Kultur
Konstböcker inom Kultur
Antropologi inom Samhalle och politik

List of Tables and Graphs ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Architecture of the Art Market 21 Chapter 2: Exchanging Meaning 53 Chapter 3: Promoters versus Parasites 77 Chapter 4: Determinants of Prices 97 Chapter 5: The Art of Pricing 116 Chapter 6: Stories of Prices 132 Chapter 7: Symbolic Meanings of Prices 158 Chapter 8: Conclusion 179 Appendix A: Interview Questionnaire 191 Appendix B: Description of Interview Sample 194 Appendix C: Record Prices for Art 197 Appendix D: Multilevel Analysis of Prices for Art 199 Notes 209 Bibliography 237 Index 255

Winner of the 2006 Viviana Zelizer Distinguished Scholarship Award, Section on Economic Sociology of the American Sociological Association "The book is an excellent, readable and thorough analysis of how prices are set in the contemporary art market."--The Art Newspaper "[Talking Prices] provides an excellent analysis of the tension between art and commerce that characterizes the art world."--Stuart Plattner, American Anthropologist "Velthuis' essay is absorbing because it challenges our understanding of economics, culture, and society. Its narrative is stylish and refined; at times the discourse shows craftsmanship and attention to details, like a still-life of Pieter Claesz; at other times it is bold and sophisticated, like a painting of Karel Appel, or Kees Van Dongen. It is an essay definitely worth reading."--Calin Valsan, Journal of Cultural Economics

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VELTHUIS ET AL, Velthuis Et Al, Olav Velthuis, Stefano Baia Curioni, University of Amsterdam) Velthuis, Olav (Associate Professor, Associate Professor, Bocconi University) Baia Curioni, Stefano (Associate Professor, Associate Professor

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