Talking prices : symbolic meanings of prices on the market for contemporary art / Olav Velthuis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Velthuis, Olav, 1972-

Series:

Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology

Princeton studies in cultural sociology

Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology ; 55

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art, American--New York (State)--New York--20th century--Prices.

Art, American.

Art, Dutch--Netherlands--Amsterdam--20th century--Prices.

Art, Dutch.

Pricing--Social aspects--New York (State)--New York.

Pricing.

Pricing--Social aspects--Netherlands--Amsterdam.

Art--Prices--Psychological aspects.

Art.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (289 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey ; Woodstock : Princeton University Press, 2005.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Tables and Graphs

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Architecture of the Art Market

Chapter 2. Exchanging Meaning

Chapter 3. Promoters versus Parasites

Chapter 4. Determinants of Prices

Chapter 5. The Art of Pricing

Chapter 6. Stories of Prices

Chapter 7. Symbolic Meanings of Prices

Chapter 8. Conclusion

Appendix A. Interview Questionnaire

Appendix B. Description of Interview Sample

Appendix C. Record Prices for Art

Appendix D. Multilevel Analysis of Prices for Art

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781400849406

1400849403

OCLC:

860711795