Measuring Masters and Masterpieces: French Rankings of French Painters and Paintings from Realism to Surrealism / Martin Bruegel, David W. Galenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bruegel, Martin.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Galenson, David W.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w8266.

NBER working paper series no. w8266

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Art, French.

Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.).

Masterpiece, Artistic.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Measuring Masters and Masterpieces

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2001.

Cambridge, Massachusetts : National Bureau of Economic Research, 2001.

Summary:

For 35 leading painters who worked in France during the first century of modern art, this paper uses illustrations in French textbooks as the basis for measuring the importance of both painters and individual paintings. The rankings closely resemble those obtained earlier from a similar analysis of American textbooks. They also pose a puzzle: why do some of the greatest artists not produce famous paintings, while some relatively minor artists produce famous individual works? The answer appears to lie in a difference in approach between experimental artists, who innovate incrementally, and conceptual innovators, who produce individual breakthrough works. This paper further demonstrates the value of quantifying artistic success, for doing so can improve our understanding of the sources of human creativity.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2001.