GERALDINE DAVID #, CHRISTIAN HUEMER+, KIM OOSTERLINCK# Art Dealers’ Inventory Strategy The case of Goupil, Boussod & Valadon from 1860 to 1914 ABSTRACT Proper inventory management is crucial for art galleries. Yet, despite its importance, inventory management has been overlooked in the literature. We distinguish four main strategies used by art dealers to manage their inventory and use this classification to set the inventory strategy of Goupil, Boussod & Valadon, a major art gallery active in France at the end of the 19th century, into perspective. Goupil’s books cover the sale of more than 25,000 artworks between 1860 and 1914. Rapidity to sell was a key element in Goupil’s strategy. Out of the sold artworks, almost 75% were sold within a year. Goupil required a slightly higher mark-up for artists from which he held a large inventory. Mark-up for artists in residence and the likelihood to sell their artworks at a loss were lower, signaling a preoccupation for their long-term market. JEL Codes: N14, N44, Z11. Keywords: Art market, Art Gallery, Goupil, Boussod & Valadon, Inventory Strategy # Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), SBS-EM, 50 av. Roosevelt, CP 114/03, 1050 Brussels, Belgium,
[email protected] # Research Center, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Prinz Eugen-Straße 27, 1030 Vienna, Austria,
[email protected] # Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), SBS-EM, 50 av. Roosevelt, CP 114/03, 1050 Brussels, Belgium,
[email protected]. Art Dealers’ Inventory Strategy The case of Goupil, Boussod & Valadon from 1860 to 1914 ABSTRACT Proper inventory management is crucial for art galleries. Yet, despite its importance, inventory management has been overlooked in the literature.