The Art Market and Aesthetics

Art holds a complex duality: it is both the expression of human creativity and aesthetic pleasure that enriches life, and, increasingly, an investment asset traded on global markets. This book explores the tensions between art as a public cultural good and as an investment, examining how the growth of global wealth has fundamentally reshaped the art sector. The market has become increasingly polarized, with soaring prices transforming art into an investment class, raising critical questions about democratic access to art and the ability of most artists, except perhaps “superstars” artists, to make a living from their work. The book traces the historical development of the global art market from Renaissance Europe through the rise of Paris, London and New York in the 19th and 20th centuries as artistic and commercial centres. It argues that some of these dilemmas may not be easily solved and may require public action to make art accessible to everyone and support promising artists. Divided into two parts, the book first combines an economic-financial approach with the tools of aesthetics and art history, examining the special nature of the art market, the artist as producer, and painting as illusion using linear and reverse perspective. The second part illustrates this conceptual framework by delving into the work of four influential figurative and non-figurative painters: Claude Monet, David Hockney, Yves Klein, and Roberto Matta, analysing their motivations, themes and styles. It closes by presenting record price/ market valuations of these great painters and other outstanding artists connecting with the more economically oriented first section of the book. The book's interdisciplinary approach will appeal to scholars and researchers of art history, economics, and finance, as well as artists, policymakers, and cultural professionals.