Introduction

Summary

Economics of visual art defies many principles of economics while also relying on them. This makes economics of art a creative and political practice unto itself. The big question in the field is whether economics can explain art – encapsulated economic value – or whether it cannot but is still a useful tool for structurally supporting art. Under the Nothing But argument, all value, including artistic value, can be represented by price. Under the Hostile Worlds argument, art can never be fully described by markets and should be kept separate. We find that economics and art are highly related in systems of institutional and commercial value. Our starting point for the book is looking at artists who make things.