Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Sacred Art: Who Has the Power to Define Art?
- 2 The Denial of the Economy: Why Are Gifts to the Arts Praised, While Market Incomes Remain Suspect?
- 3 Economic Value Versus Aesthetic Value: Is There Any Financial Reward for Quality?
- 4 The Selflessly Devoted Artist: Are Artists Reward-Oriented?
- 5 Money for the Artist: Are Artists Just Ill-Informed Gamblers?
- 6 Structural Poverty: Do Subsidies and Donations Increase Poverty?
- 7 The Cost Disease: Do Rising Costs in the Arts Make Subsidization Necessary?
- 8 The Power and the Duty to Give: Why Give to the Arts?
- 9 The Government Serves Art: Do Art Subsidies Serve the Public Interest or Group Interests?
- 10 Art Serves the Government: How Symbiotic Is the Relationship between Art and the State?
- 11 Informal Barriers Structure the Arts: How Free or Monopolized Are the Arts?
- 12 Conclusion: a Cruel Economy: Why Is the Exceptional Economy of the Arts so Persistent?
- Epilogue: the Future Economy of the Arts: Is this Book’s Representation of the Economy of the Arts Outdated?
- Notes
- Literature
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
Epilogue: the Future Economy of the Arts: Is this Book’s Representation of the Economy of the Arts Outdated?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Sacred Art: Who Has the Power to Define Art?
- 2 The Denial of the Economy: Why Are Gifts to the Arts Praised, While Market Incomes Remain Suspect?
- 3 Economic Value Versus Aesthetic Value: Is There Any Financial Reward for Quality?
- 4 The Selflessly Devoted Artist: Are Artists Reward-Oriented?
- 5 Money for the Artist: Are Artists Just Ill-Informed Gamblers?
- 6 Structural Poverty: Do Subsidies and Donations Increase Poverty?
- 7 The Cost Disease: Do Rising Costs in the Arts Make Subsidization Necessary?
- 8 The Power and the Duty to Give: Why Give to the Arts?
- 9 The Government Serves Art: Do Art Subsidies Serve the Public Interest or Group Interests?
- 10 Art Serves the Government: How Symbiotic Is the Relationship between Art and the State?
- 11 Informal Barriers Structure the Arts: How Free or Monopolized Are the Arts?
- 12 Conclusion: a Cruel Economy: Why Is the Exceptional Economy of the Arts so Persistent?
- Epilogue: the Future Economy of the Arts: Is this Book’s Representation of the Economy of the Arts Outdated?
- Notes
- Literature
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
Summary
In this epilogue, I address the question of whether my representation of the exceptional economy of the arts is an outdated one, or nearly so. Given the notions of postmodernism and commercialization, the answer to this question could well be ‘yes’. Therefore, Section 2 and the sections thereafter will examine the forces that promote change in the arts and the economy of the arts. Because a thorough treatment of possible developments is beyond the scope of this book, the remarks in this epilogue are sketchy and necessarily speculative.
Signs of a Less Exceptional Economy of the Arts
On the basis of the analysis in this book, one could expect a normalization of the economy of the arts to be accompanied by the following signs.
TABLE 5 SIGNS OF A LESS EXCEPTIONAL ECONOMY OF THE ARTS
Monetary signs
1 There is a downward trend in the incomes of successful artists. (The contrary is currently the case.)
2 There is a downward trend in the prices of old and contemporary art by famous artists. (The contrary is currently the case.)
3 There is an upward trend in the average hourly income of artists. (The contrary is currently the case.)
4 There is an upward trend in the percentage of artists with salaried employment. (The contrary is currently the case.)
5 There is a downward trend in overall donations and subsidies to the arts. (This is currently not the case.)
Other ‘hard’ signs
6 There is a downward trend in enrollment figures of youngsters going to art colleges. (This is currently not the case.)
7 There is an increase in formal regulation of numbers of artists. (This is not currently the case.)
8 Governments favor a different, more varied selection of art. (This is true in a formal sense, but not in a material sense. Although other art, like pop-music has come into focus, the money it receives is almost negligibly – see below in this section.)
9 Governments and other donors have become less interested in the distribution of the fine arts. (This is true.)
‘Soft’ signs, changing attitudes in society and in the art world
10 Art has become less important in symbolizing people's position on the social ladder (This is not true.)
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Why Are Artists Poor?The Exceptional Economy of the Arts, pp. 295 - 310Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2008