TY - JOUR
T1 - Art markets in crisis
T2 - how personal bonds and market subcultures mediate the effects of COVID-19
AU - Buchholz, Larissa
AU - Fine, Gary Alan
AU - Wohl, Hannah
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - We examine how the contemporary art market has changed as a result of the disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus. Based on interviews with artists, collectors, a dealer, and an auction house executive, we argue that the decline of face-to-face interaction, previously essential to art market transactions, has placed strain on each corner of the community. In the absence of physical co-presence with the artworks and art world actors, participants struggle to evaluate and appreciate artworks, make new social ties, develop trust, and experience a shared sense of pleasure and collective effervescence. These challenges especially impact the primary gallery market, where participants emphasize a communal commitment to art above instrumental speculation, which is more accepted in the secondary auction market. We find a transition to distant online communication, but the likelihood of this continuing after the lockdowns end and the virus dissipates varies according to the subcultures of these market segments.
AB - We examine how the contemporary art market has changed as a result of the disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus. Based on interviews with artists, collectors, a dealer, and an auction house executive, we argue that the decline of face-to-face interaction, previously essential to art market transactions, has placed strain on each corner of the community. In the absence of physical co-presence with the artworks and art world actors, participants struggle to evaluate and appreciate artworks, make new social ties, develop trust, and experience a shared sense of pleasure and collective effervescence. These challenges especially impact the primary gallery market, where participants emphasize a communal commitment to art above instrumental speculation, which is more accepted in the secondary auction market. We find a transition to distant online communication, but the likelihood of this continuing after the lockdowns end and the virus dissipates varies according to the subcultures of these market segments.
KW - Art market
KW - COVID
KW - Globalization
KW - Interaction
KW - Markets
KW - Online
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85092151462&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1057/s41290-020-00119-6
DO - 10.1057/s41290-020-00119-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 33042542
AN - SCOPUS:85092151462
VL - 8
SP - 462
EP - 476
JO - American Journal of Cultural Sociology
JF - American Journal of Cultural Sociology
SN - 2049-7121
IS - 3
ER -