Masterpieces and Markets: Why the Most Famous Modern Paintings Are Not by American Artists / David W. Galenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Galenson, David W.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w8549.

NBER working paper series no. w8549

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Masterpiece, Artistic.

Painters--United States.

Painters.

Painting, Modern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Masterpieces and Markets

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2001.

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

Summary:

A survey of the illustrations in art history textbooks reveals that the most important modern American painters, including Pollock, Johns, and Warhol, failed to produce individual paintings as famous as the masterpieces of a number of major French artists, such as Picasso, Manet, and Seurat. Analysis of the textbooks reveals that art historians do not consider the American artists to be less important than their French predecessors, or judge the Americans' innovations to be less important. The absence of American masterpieces instead appears to be a consequence of market conditions, as changes over time in the primary methods of showing and selling fine art reduced the incentive for artists to produce important individual works.

Notes:

Print version record

October 2001.