Mercato dell'arte e prodotto artistico contemporaneo

The author agrees with the current hypothesis, namely, that the contemporary art market can be examined from an economic perspective, by using analytical instruments that are typical of the management and marketing sciences. It is a fact that the evolution of the artist-as-artisan towards the artist-as-creator is based upon the concept of the non-retribution of the creative act. (The latter is described as the artist's intimate expression.) This fact, however, does not prevent the result of such a creative act from becoming the object of a monetary exchange and being assigned a price tag. The author then accepts that, when compared to other products, the artistic product is unique due to the subjectivity of its value. In this framework, she examines the laws regulating the contemporary art market and the behavioral patterns of its actors -- the creative, production, and exchange levels, the promotion of the artists' activity, the networks of often conflicting individuals and institutions. Still, she is well aware that, far from being stable, the contemporary art market is still deeply influenced by evolving mechanisms that aim towards an overall simplification. The typical features of the contemporary art market significantly enrich the scope of the management and marketing sciences. Their analytical instruments, however, remain of fundamental value even for the contemporary art market, in spite of the fact that they normally take for granted homogeneous market conditions which are not so in the contemporary market. The author concludes that any examination of the contemporary art market must focus on its special features and be wary of concepts and frameworks normally used for manufactured products (efficacy, competition, well-being). According to the authors, these special features are the results of values and criteria that are peculiar but not irrational, of subjective but not arbitrary judgments, and of irregular but non incomprehensible dynamics. The author also examines how globalization influences the contemporary art market. She singles out phenomena such as democratization, superimposition, enlargement, and approximation as the more evident results of such an interaction. By well using the analytical instruments of the management and marketing sciences, the author shows the innovative dimensions of the contemporary art market and identifies its institutional and organizational needs. Finally, the author points to the ways in which the contemporary art market tries to enlarge its scope by reaching out to new consumers.