TABLE OF CONTENTS OF Why are Artists
1. Art is What People Call Art / 2. Cultural Inferiority and Superiority
Color the Economy of the Arts / 2. ‘Art is Sacred' / 4. ‘Art is
Authentic' / 5. ‘Art is Superfluous and Remote' / 6. ‘Art Goes
Against the Rules and so Adds to Cognition’ (Goodman) / 7. ‘Artists
Resemble Magicians’ (A personal view) / 8. The Mythology of the Arts
Influences the Economy of the Arts / 9. Conclusion
Why are Gifts to the Arts Praised, While Market Incomes Remain Suspect?
1. The Arts Depend on Gifts and Trade / 2. The Amount of Donations
and Subsidies is Exceptional / 3. ‘Art that is Given Must not be
Sold’ / 4. ‘The Market Devalues Art’ / 5. The Arts Need the High
Status of the Gift Sphere / 6. The Economy in the Arts is Denied and
Veiled / 7. A Dual Economy Requires Special Skills / 8. Conclusion
3. ECONOMIC VALUE VERSUS AESTHETIC VALUE
Is There Any Financial Reward for Quality?
1. Aesthetic Value and Market Value Differ in Definition/ 2. ‘In the Market
there is no Reward for Quality’ / 3. Values are Shared / 4. There is
No Such Thing as a Pure Work of Art / 5. Buyers Influence Market
Value and Experts Aesthetic Value / 6. Power Differences Rest on
Economic, Cultural and Social Capital / 7. In Mass Markets Quality
and Sales Easily Diverge / 8. The Strife for Cultural Superiority in the
Visual Arts (an example) / 9. The Power of Words Challenges the
Power of Money / 10. The Government Transforms Cultural Power into
Purchasing Power / 11. Donors and Governments Know Best / 12.
Market Value and Aesthetic Value Tend to Converge in the Long Run /
1. The selfless Artist is Intrinsically Motivated / 2. Rewards Serve as
Inputs / 3. Artists are Faced with a Survival Constraint / 4.
Autonomy is Always Relative / 5. Intrinsic Motivation Stems from
Internalization / 6. Habitus and Field / 7. Selfless Devotion and the
Pursuit of Gain Coincide / 8. Artists Differ in Their Reward-
Orientation / 9. Types and Sources of Rewards Matter to Artists /
10. Three Examples of Orientation Towards Government Rewards in the
1. Incomes in the Arts are Exceptionally High/ 2. Art Markets are
Winner-Takes-All Markets / 3. People Prefer Authenticity and are
Willing to Pay for It / 4. Incomes in the Arts are Exceptionally Low /
5. Five Explanations for the Low Incomes Earned in the Arts / 6.
Artists are Unfit for ‘Normal’ Jobs / 7. Artists are Willing to Forsake
Monetary Rewards / 8. Artists are Over-Confident and Inclined to Take
Risks / 9. Artists are Ill-Informed / 10. Conclusion
Do Subsidies and Donations Increase Poverty?
1. Artists Have Not Always Been Poor / 2. The Desire to Relieve
Poverty in the Arts Led to the Emergence of Large-Scale
Subsidization / 3. Low Incomes are Inherent to the Arts / 4. The
Number of Artists Adjusts to Subsidy Levels / 5. Subsidies in the
Netherlands Have Increased the Number of Artists Without Reducing
Poverty / 6. Subsidies Are a Signal that Governments Take Care of
Artists / 7. Subsidies and Donations Intended to Alleviate Poverty
Actually Exacerbates Poverty / 8. Low-priced Education Signals that it
is Safe to Become an Artist / 9. Social Benefits Signal that it is Safe to
Become an Artist / 10. Artists Supplement Incomes with Family Wealth
and Second Jobs / 11. Artists Reduce Risks by Multiple
Jobholding / 12. Artists Could be Consumers
Producers / 13. Is there an Artist ‘Oversupply’ or are Low Incomes
Do Rising Costs in the Arts Make Subsidization Necessary?
1. ‘Artistic Quality Should Remain the Aspiration, Regardless of the
Costs’ / 2. ‘The Arts are Stricken by a Cost Disease’ / 3. Technical
Progress has Always been Part of the Arts / 4. There is no True
Performance / 5. The Taboo on Technical Innovation in classical
Music is a Product of the Times / 6. The Cost Disease Contributes to
Low Incomes while Internal Subsidization Contains the Cost Disease /
7. There is no Limit to the Demand for Works of Art / 8. Changing
Tastes Can Also Cause Financial Problems / 9. Pop Music has
Attractive Qualities that Classical Music Lacks / 10. Subsidies and
Donations Exacerbate the Cost Disease / 11. Conclusion
1. Donors Receive Respect / 2. Donors Have Influence and are
Necessarily Paternalistic / 3. Art Sublimates Power and Legitimizes
the Donor’s Activities / 4. Gifts Turn into Duties / 5. Donations and
Subsidies are Embedded in Rituals / 6. Artists Give and Pay
Tribute / 7. Family and Friends Subsidize Artists / 8. Private
Donors Give to Street Artists as well as to Prestigious Art Institutions /
9. Corporations and Private Foundations Support Art / 10. Conclusion
Do Art Subsidies serve the Public Interest or Group Interests?
1. Art Subsidies Need Reasons / 2. ‘Art Subsidies are Necessary to
Offset Market Failures’ / 3. ‘Art has Special Merits and must be
Accessible for Everyone’ / 4.The Merit Argument has been Used
Successfully / 5. ‘Government Must Help Poor Artists' / 6. ‘Art is
Underproduction' / 7. ‘Art Contributes to Economic Welfare and so
Must be Supported' / 8. ‘Society Needs a Reserve Army of Artists and
must therefore Support Art' / 9. Government Distorts Competition in
the Arts / 10. Self-Interest Hides Behind Arguments for Art
Subsidies / 11. The Art world Benefits from Subsidies / 12. The
Government is under Pressure to Subsidize the Arts / 13. Conclusion
How Symbiotic is the Relationship between Art and the State?
1. Governments Have Interests and Tastes / 2. Art Appears to be Less
Serviceable than it was during Monarchical Times / 3. European
Governments Carried on the Former Patronage / 4. Veiled Display
Serves Social Coherence / 5. The Cultural Superiority of the Nation
Needs Display / 6. Government Taste Serves Display / 7.
Governments are Willing to Support the Arts / 8. An Arts Experts
Regime Harmonizes Government and Art World Interests / 9.
Conclusion / Appendix: Differences between Government Involvement
11. INFORMAL BARRIERS STRUCTURE THE ARTS
1. In other Professions Barriers Inform Consumers, Restrain Producers
and Limit Competition / 2. The Arts Resist a formal control of numbers
of Artists / 3. In the Past Numbers of Artists were Controlled / 4.
Granting Certificates to Commercial Galleries in the Netherlands (An
example) / 5. Characteristics of Informal Barriers / 6. Informal
Barriers Protect Collective Reputations / 7. Innovations in the Arts are
Protected and Indirectly Rewarded / 8. The Arts are Structured and
Developments are Controlled / 9. The Risks of some are Reduced at
Why is the Exceptional Economy of the Arts so Persistent?
1. The Economy of the Arts is an Exceptional Economy / 2. Despite
the Many Donations and Subsidies Incomes are Low in the Arts / 3. A
Grim Picture has been Drawn / 4. Winners Reproduce the Mystique of
the Arts / 5. Society Needs a Sacred Domain / 6. Future Scenarios
Epilogue: THE FUTURE ECONOMY OF THE ARTS
Is this Book’s Representation of the Economy of the Arts Outdated?
1. Signs of a Less Exceptional Economy of the Arts / 2. Artists with
New Attitudes Enter the Scene (1) / 3. Artists with new Attitudes Enter
the Scene (2) / 4. ‘Art Becomes Demystified as Society Becomes More
Rational’ / 5. ‘Borders in and Around the Arts Disappear’ / 6. ‘New
Techniques, Mass Consumption and Mass Media Help Demystify the Arts’
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