The concentration of power in the market for contemporary art: an empirical analysis of ArtReview’s “Power 100”

Art experts and intermediaries play a crucial role in art markets. Artworks are goods whose quality is difficult to determine. Therefore, it seems necessary to restrict competition in the market for art experts to a certain extent, but not too much, in order to provide high-quality know-how. This paper contains an empirical analysis of the extent to which the market for art experts is concentrated. To this end, different methods for measuring the market concentration are applied, with an emphasis on the determination of the distribution function of a newly defined Power Index. The annual Power 100 ranking in the magazine ArtReview from 2002 to 2019 is used to study concentration in the art expert market. The results reveal not only several indications of a hierarchically tiered, but also highly concentrated market power in this market. First, the selection of nationalities of the so-called power members is biased, given that particularly Americans and western Europeans are overrepresented in relation to their world population shares, in contrast to underrepresented Asians, Africans, and Latin Americans. Second, although there is considerable variability in the low tiers of the ranking, the top positions in the rankings are very stable, as shown by the Power Dominance Index. Third, the main empirical result of this paper is that the Top 99 ranking positions follow an extreme value Fréchet distribution with a fat tail. This is interpreted as an indication of excessive concentration on the highest tier of art experts. Liberalizing the art expert market to a certain extent may provide more diversity and less dominance in high-end art markets.

Collectors as consumers of works of fine art on the art market and their motivations

The purpose of the article. Research and analysis of marketing technology algorithms by studying the motivations of collectors as consumers of fine arts products. The research methodology is to apply comparative, empirical, and theoretical methods. This methodological approach allows us to analyze the motivations of collectors as consumers of works of art with the subsequent use of research results in the marketing processes of promoting works of art in the art market. The scientific novelty lies in the expansion of ideas about the motivation of collectors as consumers in the market of fine arts and in the study of further marketing processes in the activities of collectors of works of art. The article analyzes the algorithms of marketing technologies in the analysis of motivations of collectors as consumers of the art market. The article establishes that in the marketing of fine arts it is relevant and necessary to study the behavior of collectors as consumers of works of art through the analysis of types of collectors, through the analysis of the processes of collecting works of art, through the analysis of situations of consumption of works of art. It should be noted that in the marketing of fine arts, the technologies of studying and analyzing the motivations of consumers of art markets in the promotion of works of art are purposefully and productively used. The analysis of motivations of consumers of art markets gives the chance to classify highly effective groups of consumers and admirers of works of fine arts according to their motivations. Conclusions. The article defines and analyzes the model of consumption of fine arts by Collectors, and, accordingly, describes the situations in which certain groups of individuals (consumer segments) acquire or collect works of art. It is proved that the collector's behavior in art marketing is based on three obligatory components: Individual (Collector) - Product (Work of art) - Situation (Consumption of a work of art in the art market). It is on these components that the types of motivation are formed, on which the model of consumption and consumer behavior is built. Thus, we have studied collectors as Individuals who consume works of art, which in turn are Products presented in kind in private (or other) collections, and we have studied the situations of consumption of works of art acquired in the collection. Keywords: art market, marketing research, motivation of consumers of works of art, collectors of works of art, behavior of consumers of art market.

Bargaining over beauty: The economics of contracts in Renaissance art markets

This paper argues that concerns over opportunism affected the content and structure of Renaissance art contracts. Building on insights from the economic analysis of contracts, we first show that opportunism threatened the relationship between buyer—the patron—and seller—the painter—in Renaissance Italy. We then test the effect of opportunism on the contracting process for paintings against a novel data set on the content and structure of ninety documents corresponding to as many commissions. Our results provide evidence that concerns over opportunism had a systematic effect on the trading parties’ choice of how much and what to include in the contract governing their ex-change.

Segmentation of art market in the fine art’ marketing

The purpose of the article. Research and analysis of marketing technology algorithms by means of market segmentation in fine arts marketing. The methodology of the study is to apply comparative, empirical, and theoretical methods. This methodological approach allows us to analyze the processes of segmentation of the fine arts market with the subsequent use of research results in the marketing processes of promoting works of art from artist to consumer. The scientific novelty consists in expanding the notions about the technology of segmentation of the art market. The article analyzes the algorithms of marketing technologies in the segmentation of the fine arts market. It should be noted that in the marketing of fine arts the technologies of segmentation of art markets and technologies of the positioning of works of art are purposefully and productively used. The segmentation of art markets enables to highly efficient identify and systematize groups of consumers and admirers of works of fine art in accordance with their goals and motivations. The main purpose of the article: analysis of the specifics of the implementation of classical marketing technologies (marketing researches, segmentation of art markets) in the marketing of fine arts. Conclusions. The analysis of the problems of using traditional marketing technologies in art marketing carried out in the article gives grounds to state that such technologies are used in the art market, but they differ significantly from other market areas. It should be noted that the technology of market segmentation is actively used in the art market in works of museums, galleries, auctions. The technology of market segmentation allows regulating the processes of appearance and satisfaction of demand for works of art and their implementation.

External Shocks in the Art Markets: How Did the Portuguese, the Spanish and the Brazilian Art Markets React to COVID-19 Global Pandemic? Data Analysis and Strategies to Overcome the Crisis

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, and the restrictions imposed by the social distance and the enforced confinement, are having an impact on the art markets globally. The aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of an external shock in the primary art market, using three countries as a case study: Portugal, Spain, and Brazil. These geographies have in common being at the margins in the art market’s main art hubs. It is intended to analyze how agents are responding to the new context, according to the data gathered within the gallery sector. The methods applied in the research are a combination of surveys carried out by the authors, field-based observation, along with an academic literature review, complemented by international and national reports analysis. The study’s main findings allow us to characterize the art market as a very resilient sector that energetically responded to the crisis, able to adapt and overcome challenges imposed by the new pandemic situation. Contemporary art galleries expanded digital activities, kept participating in art fairs hybrid models, continued to focus on internationalization, and pointed to the strengthening of public policies towards the sector and partnerships as key strategies to overcome the crisis.