Why are artists poor? : the exceptional economy of the arts = Waarom zijn kunstenaars arm? De onbarmhartige economie van de kunst

Most artists earn very little. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of aspiring young artists. Do they give to the arts willingly or unknowingly? Governments and other institutions also give to the arts, to raise the low incomes. But their support is ineffective: subsidies only increase the artists' poverty. The economy of the arts is exceptional. Although the arts operate successfully in the marketplace, their natural affinity is with gift-giving, rather than with commercial exchange. People believe that artists are selflessly dedicated to art, that price does not reflect quality, and that the arts are free. But is it true? This unconventional multidisciplinary analysis explains the exceptional economy of the arts. Insightful illustrations from the practice of a visual artist support the analysis.About the AuthorHans Abbing is a painter, a photographer and an economist. As an economist he lectures at the Faculty of History and Arts at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. [C:\Users\Microsoft\Documents\Calibre Library] Table of Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 12 1 Sacred Art: Who Has the Power to Define Art?......Page 18 1 Art is What People Call Art......Page 19 2 Cultural Inferiority and Superiority Color the Economy of the Arts......Page 21 3 ‘Art is Sacred’......Page 24 4 ‘Art is Authentic’......Page 26 5 ‘Art is Superfluous and Remote’......Page 28 6 ‘Art Goes Against the Rules and so Adds to Cognition’......Page 29 7 ‘Artists Resemble Magicians’ (A personal view)......Page 30 8 The Mythology of the Arts Influences the Economy of the Arts......Page 31 9 Conclusion......Page 33 2 The Denial of the Economy: Why Are Gifts to the Arts Praised, While Market Incomes Remain Suspect?......Page 35 1 The Arts Depend on Gifts and Trade......Page 39 2 The Amount of Donations and Subsidies is Exceptional......Page 41 3 ‘Art that is Given Must not be Sold’......Page 43 4 ‘The Market Devalues Art’ ......Page 45 5 The Arts Need the High Status of the Gift Sphere......Page 47 6 The Economy in the Arts Is Denied and Veiled ......Page 48 7 A Dual Economy Requires Special Skills......Page 49 8 Conclusion ......Page 51 3 Economic Value Versus Aesthetic Value: Is There Any Financial Reward for Quality? ......Page 53 1 Aesthetic Value and Market Value Differ in Definition ......Page 56 2 ‘In the Market there is no Reward for Quality’ ......Page 57 3 Values are Shared ......Page 59 4 There is No Such Thing as a Pure Work of Art ......Page 61 5 Buyers Influence Market Value and Experts Aesthetic Value ......Page 63 6 Power Differences Rest on Economic, Cultural and Social Capital ......Page 65 7 In Mass Markets Quality and Sales Easily Diverge......Page 67 8 The Strife for Cultural Superiority in the Visual Arts (An Example)......Page 68 9 The Power of Words Challenges the Power of Money......Page 70 10 The Government Transforms Cultural Power into Purchasing Power......Page 71 11 Donors and Governments Know Best......Page 74 12 Market Value and Aesthetic Value Tend to Converge in the Long Run......Page 75 13 Conclusion......Page 77 4 The Selflessly Devoted Artist: Are Artists Reward-Oriented?......Page 79 1 The Selfless Artist is Intrinsically Motivated......Page 82 2 Rewards Serve as Inputs......Page 84 3 Artists are Faced with a Survival Constraint......Page 86 4 Autonomy is Always Relative......Page 88 5 Intrinsic Motivation Stems from Internalization......Page 89 6 Habitus and Field......Page 91 7 Selfless Devotion and the Pursuit of Gain Coincide......Page 93 8 Artists Differ in Their Reward-Orientation......Page 95 9 Types and Sources of Rewards Matter to Artists......Page 97 10 Three Examples of Orientation Towards Government Rewards in the Netherlands......Page 100 11 Conclusion......Page 102 5 Money for the Artist: Are Artists Just Ill-Informed Gamblers?......Page 104 1 Incomes in the Arts are Exceptionally High......Page 107 2 Art Markets are Winner-Takes-All Markets......Page 108 3 People Prefer Authenticity and are Willing to Pay for It......Page 111 4 Incomes in the Arts are Exceptionally Low......Page 112 5 Five Explanations for the Low Incomes Earned in the Arts......Page 114 6 Artists are Unfit for ‘Normal’ Jobs......Page 116 7 Artists are Willing to Forsake Monetary Rewards......Page 117 8 Artists are Over-Confident and Inclined to Take Risks......Page 118 9 Artists are Ill-Informed......Page 120 10 Conclusion......Page 123 6 Structural Poverty: Do Subsidies and Donations Increase Poverty?......Page 125 1 Artists Have Not Always Been Poor......Page 127 2 The Desire to Relieve Poverty in the Arts Led to the Emergence of Large-Scale Subsidization......Page 129 3 Low Incomes are Inherent to the Arts......Page 130 4 The Number of Artists Adjusts to Subsidy Levels......Page 132 5 Subsidies in the Netherlands Have Increased the Number of Artists Without Reducing Poverty......Page 133 6 Subsidies Are a Signal that Governments Take Care of Artists......Page 137 7 Subsidies and Donations Intended to Alleviate Poverty Actually Exacerbate Poverty......Page 138 8 Low-priced Education Signals that it is Safe to Become an Artist......Page 141 9 Social Benefits Signal that it is Safe to Become an Artist......Page 142 10 Artists Supplement Incomes with Family Wealth and Second Jobs......Page 144 11 Artists Reduce Risks by Multiple Jobholding......Page 145 12 Artists Could be Consumers rather than Producers......Page 147 13 Is there an Artist ‘Oversupply’ or are Low Incomes Compensated For?......Page 148 14 Conclusion......Page 150 7 The Cost Disease: Do Rising Costs in the Arts Make Subsidization Necessary?......Page 153 1 ‘Artistic Quality Should Remain the Aspiration, Regardless of the Costs'......Page 155 2 ‘The Arts are Stricken by a Cost Disease’......Page 157 3 Technical Progress has Always been a Part of the Arts......Page 159 4 There is no True Performance......Page 161 5 The Taboo on Technical Innovation in Classical Music is a Product of the Times......Page 163 6 The Cost Disease Contributes to Low Incomes while Internal Subsidization Contains the Cost Disease......Page 165 7 There is no Limit to the Demand for Works of Art......Page 168 8 Changing Tastes Can Also Cause Financial Problems......Page 170 9 Pop Music has Attractive Qualities that Classical Music Lacks......Page 172 10 Subsidies and Donations Exacerbate the Cost Disease......Page 175 11 Conclusion......Page 179 8 The Power and the Duty to Give: Why Give to the Arts?......Page 182 1 Donors Receive Respect......Page 184 2 Donors Have Influence and are Necessarily Paternalistic......Page 187 3 Art Sublimates Power and Legitimizes the Donor’s Activities......Page 189 4 Gifts Turn into Duties......Page 192 5 Donations and Subsidies are Embedded in Rituals......Page 194 6 Artists Give and Pay Tribute......Page 195 7 Family and Friends Subsidize Artists......Page 198 8 Private Donors Give to Street Artists as well as to Prestigious Art Institutions......Page 200 9 Corporations and Private Foundations Support Art......Page 201 10 Conclusion......Page 202 9 The Government Serves Art: Do Art Subsidies Serve the Public Interest or Group Interests?......Page 204 1 Art Subsidies Need Reasons......Page 207 2 ‘Art Subsidies are Necessary to Offset Market Failures’......Page 209 3 ‘Art has Special Merits and must be Accessible to Everyone’......Page 211 4 The Merit Argument has been Used Successfully......Page 212 5 ‘Government Must Help Poor Artists’......Page 214 6 ‘Art is Public and the Government Must Intervene to Prevent Underproduction’......Page 216 7 ‘Art Contributes to Economic Welfare and so Must be Supported'......Page 219 8 ‘Society Needs a Reserve Army of Artists and must therefore Support Art'......Page 220 9 Government Distorts Competition in the Arts......Page 222 10 Self-Interest Hides Behind Arguments for Art Subsidies......Page 225 11 The Art world Benefits from Subsidies......Page 226 12 The Government is under Pressure to Subsidize the Arts......Page 228 13 Conclusion......Page 231 10 Art Serves the Government: How Symbiotic Is the Relationship between Art and the State?......Page 233 1 Governments Have Interests and Tastes......Page 235 2 Art Appears to be Less Serviceable than it was during Monarchical Times......Page 238 3 European Governments Carried on the Former Patronage......Page 241 4 Veiled Display Serves Social Coherence......Page 243 5 The Cultural Superiority of the Nation Needs Display......Page 245 6 Government Taste Serves Display......Page 249 7 Governments are Willing to Support the Arts......Page 251 8 An Arts Experts Regime Harmonizes Government and Art World Interests......Page 253 9 Conclusion......Page 255 Appendix: Differences between Government Involvement in the in the Arts in the US and in Europe......Page 256 11 Informal Barriers Structure the Arts: How Free or Monopolized Are the Arts?......Page 260 1 In other Professions Barriers Inform Consumers, Restrain Producers and Limit Competition......Page 263 2 The Arts Resist a Formal Control of Numbers of Artists......Page 264 3 In the Past Numbers of Artists were Controlled......Page 266 4 Granting Certificates to Commercial Galleries in the Netherlands......Page 268 5 Characteristics of Informal Barriers......Page 269 6 Informal Barriers Protect Collective Reputations......Page 272 7 Innovations in the Arts are Protected and Indirectly Rewarded......Page 273 8 The Arts are Structured and Developments are Controlled......Page 275 9 The Risks of Some are Reduced at the Expense of Others......Page 277 10 Conclusion......Page 278 12 Conclusion: a Cruel Economy: Why Is the Exceptional Economy of the Arts so Persistent?......Page 281 1 The Economy of the Arts is an Exceptional Economy......Page 283 2 Despite the Many Donations and Subsidies Incomes are Low in the Arts......Page 284 3 A Grim Picture has been Drawn......Page 285 4 Winners Reproduce the Mystique of the Arts......Page 288 5 Society Needs a Sacred Domain......Page 290 6 Future Scenarios with More or Less Subsidization......Page 292 1 Signs of a Less Exceptional Economy of the Arts......Page 296 2 Artists with New Attitudes Enter the Scene (1)......Page 299 3 Artists with new Attitudes Enter the Scene (2)......Page 301 4 ‘Art Becomes Demystified as Society Becomes More Rational’......Page 302 5 ‘Borders in and Around the Arts Disappear’......Page 304 6 ‘New Techniques, Mass Consumption and Mass Media Help......Page 307 Notes......Page 312 Literature......Page 350 Index of Names......Page 362 Most Artists Earn Very Little. Nevertheless, There Is No Shortage Of Aspiring Young Artists. Do They Give To The Arts Willingly Or Unknowingly? Governments And Other Institutions Also Give To The Arts, To Raise The Low Incomes. But Their Support Is Ineffective: Subsidies Only Increase The Artists' Poverty. The Economy Of The Arts Is Exceptional. Although The Arts Operate Successfully In The Marketplace, Their Natural Affinity Is With Gift-giving, Rather Than With Commercial Exchange. People Believe That Artists Are Selflessly Dedicated To Art, That Price Does Not Reflect Quality, And That The Arts Are Free. But Is It True? This Unconventional Multidisciplinary Analysis Explains The Exceptional Economy Of The Arts. Insightful Illustrations From The Practice Of A Visual Artist Support The Analysis. Hans Abbing. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 349-360) And Indexes. Most artists earn very little. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of aspiring young artists. Do they willing or unwilling give to the arts? Governments and other institutions also give to the arts. They often subsidize the arts to raise the low incomes. But their support is ineffective: subsidies only increase the artists’ poverty. The economy of the arts is exceptional. Although the arts operate successfully in the marketplace, their natural affinity is with gift-giving rather than with commercial exchange. People believe that artists are selflessly dedicated to art, that price does not reflect quality and that the arts are free. But is this true? This unconventional multidisciplinary analysis explains the exceptional economy of the arts. Insightful illustrations from the practice of a visual artist support the analysis.