Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

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Page 1 Market Matters The dynamics of the contemporary art market By

Page 2 Market Matters The dynamics of the contemporary art market By Louisa Buck

Carey Young Detail of production still from

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I am a Revolutionary, 2001 Video, 4.08 mins; colour, sound Commissioned by Film & Video Umbrella in association with John Hansard Gallery Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, London Courtesy of IBID projects, London/Vilnius

In the video I am a Revolutionary we see the artist dressed in a smart business suit in a slick office space. Young is rehearsing part of a script with a presentation skills trainer: ‘I am a revolutionary.’ The line could equally come from the ‘business leadership‘ rhetoric of globalisation as from the language of political activists, much as it also seems to refer to the legacy of the artistic avant-garde. Young struggles to say her line with conviction, but to her trainer, the words seem unproblematic, as if they are just another message that can be spouted to an audience like any other within the realm of popular or political culture.

Carey Young, September 2004

Page 3 Acknowledgments Contents

Among the many people who have provided information 4 Foreword and advice I am especially grateful to Andrew Wheatley for his invaluable input and to Sarah Thelwall for sharing 6 Introduction her knowledge so generously. Thanks also to Gill 12 Mechanics of the market Johnson, Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton, Viola von Harrach, 18 Value of the market Tim Eastop, Sarah Wason, Paula Silcox, and Kirsten 21 Characterising the market Dunne of Arts Council England for their contribution and commitment to this project, and to Eileen Daly 27 Distribution for her editing skills. Gerri Morris of Morris Hargreaves 39 Buyers McIntyre was most helpful in guiding me through her 49 Public sector research, and Taste Buds is the cornerstone from which this publication has developed. Thanks are also due to 63 Developing the market the Taste Buds Steering Group, chaired by Gill Hedley, 69 Conclusion: the market does matter Director of the Contemporary Art Society. 70 Endnotes 72 Quote sources

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Page 4 Foreword a debate that centres on local and national, public and private, the present as well as the past. The The art market and contemporary art generate intense Contemporary Art Society’s Special Collections scheme media and public interest, yet the workings of the art has made an impressive start to create credible public world are impenetrable to all but insiders in the field. collections of contemporary art outside London. This This snapshot draws on interviews with artists, collectors, needs to be sustained. curators, dealers and galleries. Louisa Buck’s incisive text shows how the international art market works and To widen the current market and collector base for looks at the importance of growing private and public contemporary art, the Arts Council’s New Audiences collecting in Britain. It concludes with proposals to Department commissioned research on the size and strengthen the art economy and to widen its reach. composition of the market for contemporary art in England for which little data existed. The report, Taste Arts Council England aims to place the artist at the Buds, presents the findings of a year-long research centre of its activities and to grow the economy for exercise. The scope was to cover the entire spectrum artists. This more overt engagement with the commercial of contemporary art as well as to identify the market sector requires a knowledge and relationship with the for what is defined as ‘challenging’ contemporary art. market based on the need to balance public values This market is global and its dynamics international. and private interests. Many artists work outside the conventions of the gallery system and eschew the art Market Matters draws on Taste Buds to throw a spotlight market. There is a live tradition in Britain of art in the on the workings of this market to encourage those who public realm which is politically and socially focused, want to buy new work and relish a challenge. It does not where the process of art has precedence over the object underplay the pitfalls, but will give confidence through or ‘product’. The economy of art has changed. Many providing ways in, at all levels. It also makes suggestions artists receive fees for projects which are often temporary, on how the Arts Council and the galleries and museums although they may generate related works for sale in the might work more closely to establish protocols to traditional market. The roles of the publicly funded and support the economy for artists and collectors. We the private gallery are becoming interchangeable as recognise that strong public collections for the benefit public galleries need to raise more income and as the of all are the best advocate for growing engagement private galleries expand their public presence. and for stimulating private collecting. An informed and appropriate relationship with the commercial sector is Artists now negotiate a wider market, public as well as fundamental for arts organisations in the 21st century. private and this has implications for the private collector This presents challenges; we commissioned this essay to too. It also impacts on the capacity of our regional contribute to the debate. The market does matter and it museums to develop strong contemporary collections See Robertson, Iain, is both private and public. which provide the critical context for increased private Understanding international art markets and collecting, especially outside London. The Museums management, (forthcoming) Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton, Association is consulting on Collections for the Future, Routledge, 2005 Director Visual Arts, Arts Council England 4 Foreword

Page 5 Introduction “It is a well-known particular artist.’ 2 Much of the Arts Council Collection, melancholy truth that which began when the Arts Council of Great Britain was An unholy alliance? the tribe of auctioneers, founded in 1946, has been acquired from commercial Art history confirms that the relationship between connoisseurs, picture galleries and the Arts Council continues to purchase 3 art and money is a time-honoured one. Ever since the dealers … have monopolised ‘innovative work from artists living in Britain’ from church, the crown and the aristocracy ceased to be the trade of pictures and dealers great and small. significant sources of patronage, contemporary art made it a matter of ridicule has been inextricably involved in and subject to the to purchase any modern Yet despite a long history of symbiosis, relations vicissitudes of the market-place. Writing in the 17th production or to encourage between public and private remain ambiguous. century the diarist John Evelyn records that it was quite an English artist. By this The two sectors may be entwined but this does not usual to find Dutch farmers paying the equivalent of craft the leaders of taste necessarily mean that they are at ease with their up to £3,000 for paintings and then reselling them at of these kingdoms acquire conjoined state. At a time when the art market in this ‘very great gaines’; 1 and more recently, as every artist fortunes and credit, whilst country is undergoing a period of unprecedented from Marcel Duchamp onwards is all too aware, no many of our painters, men expansion it is especially important that this relationship http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…pdf+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 3 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

from Marcel Duchamp onwards is all too aware, no artwork, however radical or overtly critical of the of genius and industry, is reassessed. In the past, visual art has primarily been market-place, is immune from being absorbed and are absolutely starving.” understood and utilised according to cultural and social consumed as marketable material. From the museums Letter in St James’s Chronicle, criteria: either for its intrinsic value, as ‘art for art’s sake’ through to the heritage sector, Arts Council England 25 April 1761 or, more recently, for its role as a driver of regeneration. and the British Council, the public sector has always Now, however, the re-evaluation of the art market as been engaged with the art market, and it should not an economy or an industry with all the considerations assume that it can or should remain aloof from its and benefits that this implies, introduces the new activities. How it engages is the key question. concept of discussing art and artists in terms framed by an economic as well as a cultural and a social imperative. 4 Right from its earliest beginnings the Arts Council has always been closely associated with the commercial The art market is a major economy in its own right and sector. For over 50 years, its role as a direct provider of a key contributor to the nation’s creative industries; and exhibitions and myriad associated publications has led recognising it as such marks a paradigm shift in the to the Arts Council entering into long and productive status and role of art in this country. The Arts Council relationships with many of the most important dealers has already made some headway in recognising this and artists’ agents both in the UK and abroad. In 1985 change in emphasis. In its manifesto document the late Nigel Greenwood was invited to select the Ambitions for the arts 2003–2006, as one of a range Hayward Annual, an invitation extended by the Arts of proposals aimed at placing artists at the centre of Council and the Hayward Gallery ‘to indicate our regard its activities, the Arts Council declared its intention to 5 for the many excellent gallery directors in this country benefit artists by ‘stimulating the economy for artists’. who are dedicated to contemporary art and who This acknowledgment of the financial ramifications of encourage the irreplaceable and often long-lasting art practice marked an unprecedented move by the Arts relationship between the individual collector and a Council towards a more overt engagement with the 6 Introduction

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“Money’s the thing you commercial sector. Also, by actively setting out to can’t get your mind round improve the financial possibilities for artists, the Arts … whereas art and science Council was tacitly acknowledging that relations between and religion you can just public and commercial sectors needed addressing. about get your mind round, Money money seems to skitter In 2002, Arts Council England commissioned research through everything and into the art market with a brief to examine how to “ be ungraspable.” enhance and increase sales of ‘innovative contemporary , artist, 2001 art’ to individuals. Taste Buds: how to cultivate the art market (Morris Hargreaves McIntyre, 2004) presents qualitative and quantitative research and analysis creates of the contemporary art market together with recommendations on how sales of contemporary art might be developed. 6 No research of this kind had ever been carried out before. The scope of Taste Buds’ investigations was therefore extended to cover the taste entire spectrum of current contemporary art, and to Jenny Holzer, artist, 1986 ” include a wide range of art and artists. Market Matters distils the main findings, adds new interviews and background and sharpens the focus on the composition and workings of the market for challenging contemporary art that exists – or could be encouraged to exist – both in London and throughout England. Contemporary art is notoriously slippery to define, and everyone has their own view of what constitutes the truly contemporary. However for clarity’s sake, in this case, ‘challenging contemporary art’ specifically refers to artworks which have achieved, or are in the process of achieving, endorsement by the contemporary art world.

These artworks can be produced in any medium or material, they can be sound, time or performance based, and they can be made by artists of any age and generation. These artists are making work that not only acknowledges artistic traditions but which also has new http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…pdf+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 4 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

8 Introduction

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“When it comes to the conversations with them. Here the artworks under their work is not deemed challenging enough to enter, visual arts … no training discussion are made by artists based in England or remain within the process of endorsement. Where and licences are required. who are in the business of producing challenging the acquisition of this art might have an impact upon Few rules exist, and those contemporary art. the market under examination here, then it is given that do tend to shift due consideration. continuously and are known For the purposes of this discussion, ‘market' refers to to insiders only. The creative the processes by which works of art are bought and Market Matters synthesises and augments the evidence process by which art is sold and by which creativity is converted into and analysis in Taste Buds (2004) as well as providing generated breaks rules and commercial value. Here the geographical scope is additional interviews with artists, dealers, collectors and must do so. Whatever rules confined to England, and the buyers restricted to private curators. It aims to clarify the complex workings of the may have evolved cannot and institutional, not corporate buyers. Market Matters art market, to untangle and scrutinise its dynamic and be stable because new is specifically concerned with the primary market, which its current relationship with the range of visual arts visions are born all the time is the market through which a work of art is sold for the organisations – including art galleries – which make up which defy established rules. first time. The secondary market, the market through the public sector. All of these public sector organisations This means that any trust which a work of art is sold for second or subsequent are funded in whole or part by the public purse, in arts is going to be of a times, takes place primarily through auction houses through local and national government, higher precarious nature because and/or secondary commercial agents, dealers and education and national agencies, including the Arts there are no basic facts galleries. Although the secondary market is not part Council. Drawing on the recommendations in Taste and immediate experiences of this study, it is nonetheless an important source of Buds, Market Matters highlights potential areas where that would justify trust.” revenue for many primary market dealers and agents. the public and commercial sectors could work in tandem

Holger Bonus, University of Munster/Dieter and to their mutual benefit. Ronte, Bonn Museum of Art, 1997 ‘Dealer’ is the term used to encompass commercial art galleries, artists’ agents, gallerists and all those who sell works of art, while ‘buyer’ covers buyers of contemporary art and art by living artists. Buyers can range from dedicated collectors to buyers who purchase art for various reasons ranging from personal to financial. These can be further sub-divided into top-level collectors, committed collectors, regular collectors and occasional buyers although divisions between these categories are by no means rigid.

The term ‘art by living artists’ covers a wide range of art made from all materials and in all styles by living artists of all ages which – for whatever reason – lies outside the endorsement process. This could either be because the artists have no desire for endorsement or because 10 Introduction

Page 8 Mechanics of the market “For most artists the ideal other luxury, it also underlines the vital role of the public scenario is for their work to sector in the valuation process. For, in addition to “The making of art is Any examination of how contemporary art is bought be seen in a public space by providing the most important level of affirmation, the extremely elite, the selling and sold must first establish the fact that the an ever-changing audience. public sector permeates and plays a part in all aspects of of art is elite. It’s a highly contemporary art market is unlike any other. A work This is more than an ego the art market, from the bottom to the very top. specialised thing. It’s the of art may be the ultimate luxury item but the art thing: artists make their ultimate consumer product market cannot be compared to any other market for work with a fictional Processes of endorsement in our society.” luxury goods. Its value systems are nebulous, complex audience in mind which is Before even the most basic components of the all of humanity, not just a contemporary art market can be examined, it is Leon Golub, artist and fragile. The ways in which certain works of art are recognised and evaluated at the expense of others has privileged private audience necessary to elaborate on the concept of endorsement little or nothing to do with the materials and/or the and their friends, and the that underpins all its transactions and lies at its core. conventions used in their construction. Even the term whole point about the work Endorsement is a complex process whereby works of art ‘art’ is itself unstable, shifting through history and across being seen in museums is are written about by critics, bought and sold in the cultures, and settling on certain groups of objects or that the potential audience market-place, and selected for exhibition by museum individual items in particular places at particular times. is a surprised audience who curators, all with a view to finding a lasting place in the Although more artists than ever are making works for hasn’t necessarily seen the history of visual culture. If the process is successful, it is spaces outside the gallery, the key difference between work before and is looking very likely that these works will be given the status of http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…pdf+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 5 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

spaces outside the gallery, the key difference between contemporary art and other luxury goods is that virtually at it with a fresh eye.” ‘museum quality’. Both public and commercial factors all the elements operating within the market – the Cathy de Monchaux, artist, 2004 have a key part to play in this journey of a contemporary producers, suppliers and consumers – regard the public artwork through the various permutations of the art gallery or museum as the ultimate resting-place for the market towards their ultimate intended home in a major 7 work they make, sell or buy. For the artist, achieving this museum collection. aspiration still means that the work is in the optimum position to find its place in the history of art; for the In a notoriously unregulated market in which anyone dealer it is a sign that they have successfully managed can claim their work as art and call themselves an artist, an artist’s career; and for the buyer donating an artwork a process of endorsement is necessary in order to select to a major public collection, it is both a symbol of and filter good art from bad, to distinguish which artists philanthropy and a sign of discernment. are making work that not only acknowledges artistic traditions but which also has new conversations with Once it has come to rest in an important public them; and overall to establish which works should be institution, the artwork’s enhanced status is also considered worthy of a potential place in art history. emphasised by a resulting increase in its monetary worth: the ultimate accolade of ‘museum quality’ In order to aspire to be considered ‘museum quality’ is not cheaply won. an artwork has to be advocated, debated and endorsed by a network of experts within both public and private This essential aspiration to be considered ‘museum sectors. This comprises artists, curators, academics, art quality’ not only sets contemporary art apart from any teachers, critics, collectors and dealers, all of whom 12 Mechanics of the market

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“So you pay a grand for a make up a constantly shifting series of sub-groups with professional in presentation. The degree show also painting from an unknown a number of key institutions at their core. To enable this provides a valuable opportunity for a wider public to artist’s studio. If you are a process to function, it is crucial that these groups have access to challenging contemporary art in its serious collector, taking a present a finely tuned interplay between both public earliest incarnation. risk, you increase the value and private sectors. If a sufficient number of these of the work just by buying individuals hold the same views and combine to support The artist’s work is then often shown in a small artist- it. If you are a cheap serious the same artist then this consensus amounts to an run space which nonetheless is regularly patrolled by collector you try to get a endorsement. It is this dynamic which both characterises well-informed critics and dealers. This can either lead to discount on this … if you and drives the contemporary visual arts world, and an invitation to exhibit in a small, publicly funded space wait until the artist has a within it, the market. The public sector is an indispensable – epitomised by Interim Art, in Hackney, East London in dealer you are going to pay part of this equation but, as we will see, it relies heavily the 1980s or in Vauxhall, South London in more. If you wait until she on commercial elements to introduce artworks at key the 1990s. 9 Or, more commonly these days, the artist has a good review then you points, to support artists throughout their careers and is taken up by a proactive dealer – who will expend are going to pay more still. to power them through the various permutations of the considerable time, effort and resources attempting to If you wait until … MOCA art market. raise the artist’s profile both commercially among private notices her work you are collectors and at the many international art fairs, which going to pay even more So how do these constituent elements and form an essential international showcase and meeting than that, and if you wait interrelationships work together to propel an artwork point for collectors. The dealer will also, critically, until everybody wants one, on this value-accruing journey from artist’s studio to a give the artist greater exposure to artist peers, art of course, you are going major museum collection? Taste Buds presented a model professionals and art writers who attend exhibitions to pay a whole hell of a of this dynamic entitled ‘The art eco-system’, 8 which at the gallery. This double-pronged commercial/critical lot more, since as demand plots a characteristic trajectory through the art market recognition means that the artist’s work can either approaches ‘one’ and supply and its attendant support systems. However, it is a be purchased by a private collector or selected for approaches ‘zero’, price journey that few artists and their oeuvre will complete exhibition at a small, publicly funded space such as approaches infinity. But you in its entirety. It requires luck and good timing, as well Spacex in Exeter or Chisenhale in London, or both. are not paying for art. You as the ability to create great art, for an artist to evolve are paying to be sure, and from art school ingénue to revered, endorsed figure, The next step leads to further institutional recognition assurance (or insurance, if sought after by the world’s leading museums and by a regional, independently-curated gallery – such you will) is very expensive, collectors. Many fall by the wayside or just never as Ikon, , Modern Art or Arnolfini, because risk is everything, quite make the whole trip. Bristol. (It is worth noting that an exhibition in a well- for everybody, in the regarded public gallery is generally thought of as more domain of art.” The journey through this volatile territory begins with significant for an artist’s career, and accruing more

Dave Hickey, University of the student-artist attracting the attention of art school endorsement than a show in a commercial space, Nevada, Las Vegas, 1997 teachers and peers. A crucial early showcase is the art however high-profile that commercial gallery may be. school degree show, which, following the influential This is due both to the wider audiences attracted by example set by Goldsmiths’ Visual Arts Department in public galleries as well as to the enduring reputation of the late 1980s, has now become increasingly these institutions as hallowed spaces, steeped in history 14 Mechanics of the market

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“Critics operate as double and – it is hoped – at least partially protected from well-designed and edited catalogues, complete with agents, at an interface the direct dictates of the market.) After this comes erudite essays by respected writers and good-quality between artist and audience, the ultimate purchase by a major public collection. reproductions, are a must for any artist seeking seeming to speak for both Or, following an alternative path, the work can enter endorsement. Traditionally, catalogue publishing was sides while making both a major public collection as the donation of a prominent primarily considered to be the job of the public sector. equally mistrustful. But private collector. But over the last decade commercial galleries have suspicion is in order. Whose become increasingly adept at commissioning the best side are critics on, after all? Along the way, the artwork will have generated a writers, publishers and artwork photographers in order There is only one possible substantial trail of documentation in the form of to ensure that the catalogues accompanying many answer. The critic is on the exhibition catalogues, promotional and educational commercial exhibitions have lasting value and a status critic’s side, for criticism literature and critical coverage. Endorsement therefore that goes way beyond that of promotional material. means reserving the right accrues throughout this process. Although maybe not However the endorsement afforded by a publicly to take any side at all.” as overt as a few decades ago, the role of the critic is funded catalogue continues to carry more weight.

Stuart Morgan, critic, 1991 still an important one. These days, critics draw attention to new talent through verbal as well as written endorsement: many art writers are asked to take part in art school ‘crits’ and as well as giving advice to students they will also spread the word among fellow art world players if they encounter work which they feel to be especially worthy of note.

The power of verbal networking is a strong one in all areas and at all levels of the famously sociable art world and the critic is an important part of this. It should also be noted that many of our leading critics occasionally curate exhibitions. There are, however, few opportunities for critics to publish their views about artists, unless there is the tie-in ‘peg’ of an exhibition or event. Therefore initial exposure is left up to the small artist-run space or the adventurous art dealer. In any case, an unfavourable review tends not to be as devastating for an artist as in the past; for in our information-hungry age all forms of coverage tend to be viewed as useful.

Reviews and profiles in the arts press are nonetheless a crucial part of the endorsement process; and a series of 16 Mechanics of the market

Page 11 Value of the market buyers are all notoriously reticent about their turnover and expenditure, and the destination of works sold. “We consider London, after Recent expansion Also, the number of artists is variable so any figures New York, to be the second The market in England for contemporary visual art has gathered can only be approximate and based to a great art centre of the world and undergone a dramatic expansion over the last decade. extent upon estimates and anecdotal information rather we wanted to use it as our London is now the centre of Europe’s art market, and is than hard data. European ‘leg’, to service acknowledged as the second largest art market-place in European markets out of the world, after New York. Taste Buds made a significant start by adding together London. This is where the an estimation of contemporary galleries and outlets and auctions are, this is where This importance was further underlined by the open studio sales to arrive at a total figure for the English 10 the galleries are, this is inaugural success of , London’s first truly primary domestic market-place of £354.5 million. where the dealers are. Of international fair of challenging contemporary art which course there are galleries in opened in Regent’s Park in 2003 and which is now set However, given the global economy for art, it is almost Berlin, in Cologne, in Rome, to become an annual event. Frieze was followed in certain that the actual figure will be well in excess but the big dealers, they are 2004 by photo-london, London’s first photography fair, of £500 million, since the Taste Buds figure does not all here. The proof of the staged at the Royal Academy in Burlington Gardens. factor-in sales made directly by artists, which are difficult pudding is the fact that we In the last few years, a plethora of new commercial to estimate due to the nature of artist’s earnings which have just opened a 15,000 galleries, large and small, selling the most challenging are often not disclosed. It also does not include public square foot additional of contemporary art have opened throughout the commissions, both in England and overseas, which gallery, if it wasn’t going capital, with the decision by such big international involve millions of pounds and can be very major http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…pdf+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 7 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

gallery, if it wasn’t going capital, with the decision by such big international well, we wouldn’t have names as Hauser & Wirth, Spruth Magers Lee and projects such as, for example, Jaume Plensa’s or Anish done that.” Gagosian to open major London spaces confirming Kapoor’s outdoor commissions for the Frank Gehry the capital’s importance as a market centre. designed Millennium Park Amphitheatre on the shore Stefan Ratibor, Director, of Lake Michigan. , London, 2004 In 2004 London’s art market pre-eminence was celebrated by the first Art Fortnight, linking together We therefore need to acknowledge the fact that the the leading dealers and the public museums and market for challenging contemporary art is a huge galleries in a programme of cultural events, museum, global economy, of which the English market is just one gallery and auction exhibitions and visits to private – albeit significant – part. Artists, agents and dealers can collections. But how does all this excitement and be based in England or overseas, or spend their time activity translate into hard figures? moving between several countries – or continents – with monies flowing back and forth across the globe. In Building a figure addition, it is common practice for top-end artists to be This is not easy to achieve. The English art market is represented by major galleries both in America and in unregulated and does not lend itself to close scrutiny. Europe, as well as at home, and these overseas sales can A lack of accountability makes gathering information accrue very substantial monies for the artists in question. difficult and complex. Further, artists, suppliers and If an artist is jointly represented by several galleries then 18 Value of the market

Page 12 “My last two shows were varying permutations of partnerships will exist between Characterising the market in New York and Madrid joint representatives or between primary and subsidiary and my next exhibition is agents. These arrangements will result in a scale of “The militarised zone If the art market is a crucible in which key ingredients in Malaga. I live and work commissions being paid between dealers on sales between artist and come into contact, combine and coalesce in order to in London, but my collectors made both abroad and in England. collector is busy with enable the sale and endorsement of artworks to take are based all over the world, guerrillas, envoys, double- place, then the next stage in understanding this market as well as in the UK. So it’s So, while there is no single formula for these various agents, runners and both more fully is to single out these component parts – inaccurate to think of the partnerships and payments, there is also no doubt that major parties in a variety the artists, the outlets, the collectors and the various contemporary art market England’s high-earning makers – and sellers – of of disguises as they elements of the public sector – and to examine them solely in UK terms – it’s challenging contemporary art frequently make the mediate between in greater detail. completely international, greater part of their income from sales made overseas principle and money.” and everyone – artists, rather than at home. Also, not only do US, European Artists collectors and dealers – do and sometimes Asian galleries sell the work of England- Brian O’Doherty, author of Inside the , 1976 It is difficult to settle upon a definitive number of artists some and often a great deal, based artists in their own spaces, they also sell often currently living in England. Taste Buds noted the wide of their business abroad.” large amounts of their work at major overseas art fairs “Art schools start the drift variations between estimates which put the number of such as Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, the Armory Jane Simpson, artist, 2004 from the regions to London England-based professional artists at anything between Show in New York, Art Forum Berlin and the Turin Art which is accelerated by post- 34–110,000. 11 Morris Hargreaves McIntyre attempted Fair. Again, artists and their English dealers will reap the graduate degrees: for every to undertake this audit but many factors mitigated considerable benefits of these important art fair sales. post-graduate place in the against building a figure, including issues of definition regions, there are 24 places which revolve around the fact that anyone can describe All this buying and selling outside the UK therefore in London. We end up themselves as an artist. (An indication of how difficult makes up an essential part of the English contemporary with a situation where it is to estimate the true amount is given by the fact art market. More research needs to be done in order to there are probably twice as that, in the last national census in 2001, the number try and pin down a more precise figure. many contemporary artists of women artists had increased by 70%. However, this in London as there are in the could be due to a large number of those working in regions. If, like me, you think creative fields now choosing to define themselves as that artists are a good thing, artists.) Whatever the total figure, however, a significant that means an important proportion is based in London. A conference paper loss to the quality of life given in 2000 states that 50% of England’s artists live in the regions.” in London; 12 while a report by the London Development Agency in 2000 finds that 30% of all England’s artists Lynda Morris, Curator, 13 Norwich Gallery, 2000 and photographers live in London.

Since the artists under discussion here are those making challenging contemporary art, and since London is where the art market is located and where the main elements of the endorsement process can be found, it 20 Value of the market

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“For me success is enjoying can therefore be safely assumed that the majority of “The art world’s entire to end up in important public collections. However, it is what you do and people England-based artists making challenging contemporary economic system is shifting important to note that for the great majority of these seeing your work, because art are based in London with small but significant away from the private artists it is peer group approval that matters more than it doesn’t matter how communities in the other metropolitan centres such as sphere to the public, from commercial success, although if the two go hand in brilliant you are as an artist, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol. the art market to museums hand, then so much the better. if people don’t see what you … new forms of art and the do there’s no point in doing Like the art they make, challenging contemporary artists art world’s new economic But while most artists would like to achieve both critical it. You can get self- defy easy definition. Terms such as ‘emerging’, ‘mid- system mutually reinforce and commercial success, there is a vigorous strain of satisfaction from it, but there career’, and ‘mature’ can be misleading, as age and each other, setting off an challenging contemporary art that rejects the market- has to be a rapport, there chronology are not necessarily accurate indicators of upward-spiralling trend … place and whose artists position themselves outside it. has to be a viewer. If an career maturity. Careers can soar and then plunge; they at ever greater remove from Acting in a time-honoured tradition stretching back artist had a sellout show can plateau-out, tail off or be kick-started. The impetus the traditional art market. to the turn of the 20th century, and reaching a climax that everyone said was of early success may not be sustained and a period off The latter is gradually being during the 1960s and 70s, many of today’s artists crappy, I wonder, would they the endorsement and/or market-place radar can on replaced by a new market deliberately eschew the art market, often with work that care? I don’t know, it’s never occasions be followed by a late-blooming career revival. based on public funding – a is sound, event or performance based, or exists on the happened to me … I sell a lot market as mysterious to the internet. With earlier precedents in the Artist Placement of work, but I make a lot of The career status of an artist is assessed according to general public as are the Group of John Latham, Stuart Brisley and Ian Breakwell work, and because my prices myriad and compound factors including how often they legendary fluctuations in in the 70s, a younger generation of artists are finding go from editioned work show, where they show, how often they appear in the artistic value typical of the employment and direction in work which is focused on which starts at fifty quid arts or mainstream press, and whether they have a traditional private market.” social and political engagement. This may range from

up to a couple of hundred dealer, and if so, who? Other considerations include Nathalie Heinich, Research Director, Jeremy Deller’s reenactment of the miner’s strike, The thousand I make work that how frequently they sell, and to whom. Are institutional Centre Nationale de la Recherche Battle of Orgreave (2001) to ’s pulverisation people can save up and buy, purchases made? Are prizes won? And are they the Scientifique, Paris, 2004 of all his possessions, Break Down, (2001); or Nina which is important.” right kind of prizes? However, a surprisingly large Pope and Karen Guthrie’s online travelogue, A Hypertext

Tracey Emin, artist, 2004 number of high-profile figures still struggle to make a Journal (1996) and Anna Best’s performative collaboration living through selling their art (high production costs between the residents of Vauxhall, South London and “The market is not my have their part to play in this). They therefore often the London Philharmonic Orchestra, PHIL (2002). audience though it is need to pursue other forms of employment, which something that I have may or may not be art-related, including teaching, Over the past decade, there has also been a significant the occasional flirt with – design and construction work. shift from the traditional art market to a wider economy I don’t make saleable work, involving both the public and the private sectors, but that doesn’t mean I Artists’ relationship to the market whereby artists make an income through their practice don’t sell.” Many contemporary artists care deeply about the market by being paid, often on a daily rate, to pursue projects but have a complicated relationship with it. Inevitably, in public spaces. These projects can be commissioned Jeremy Deller, artist, 2004 artistic aspirations vary according to personality and by local authorities or by a range of commercial circumstances, but many artists want to sell to serious organisations, from corporations to department stores. collectors, to show in prestigious spaces, and ultimately They are nearly always impermanent in nature, having a 22 Characterising the market

Page 14 “There is a contradiction at limited period of public presentation and leaving Preview attendance is about (a) the heart of the relationship a residue of documentation in their wake. between artist and dealer; “ free drinks, (b) seeing the work, a conflict of interest that For artists who are eager to sell their work it is more (c) supporting the exhibiting artist, I have always felt. Artists important for their work to be seen by the ‘right’ need to hold on to their dealers, collectors and curators, and no amount of (d) meeting your colleagues, (e) work. It’s like the desire personal marketing training can guarantee that. Rather thinking that, by osmosis, being of parents to be near than trying directly to sell their own work, an artist’s their children, but it is also entrepreneurial impulses are likely to be channelled into there will somehow lead to your important for artists to have creating a critical context for it. Today’s artists curate own exhibition at this gallery! But objects they make close at exhibitions, write for art publications and are involved whilst drinking the drinks, showing hand as reference points; in collaborative artistic projects and artist-run spaces. past works show where they your face, standing outside on the have been and where they Overall, artists tend to be more informal in their pursuit pavement making up the numbers must go … The art dealer’s of professional networking opportunities, and the active reason for being is to sell social life that the art world promotes is helpful for this. in someone else’s scene, it hits you: art. Some great dealers Probably no other sector has such a range of social this gallery will never show your love art so much that they activities, exhibition openings, gallery dinners, after-show can’t refrain from buying parties and all-day events as the art world. In this highly work. This gallery has nothing to artworks for themselves. sociable environment – invariably fuelled by some form do with you. You’ve got nothing to This too creates conflict. of sponsored drinks brand – art melds with social life, do with this gallery. The recognition The merchants deny their important contacts are made and deals done in the function and put on a course of what appears from the outside to be a of these truths is critical. Out on the http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…pdf+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 9 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

function and put on a course of what appears from the outside to be a collector’s hat … but let’s purely social occasion. pavement you realise that you are face it, whether as salesman or collector the dealer’s urge Artists’ views on dealers surrounded by your own scene. is to wean the creator from Artists who wish to have a role on the international There is only so much room inside, the artefact.” stage need a major London-based dealer and, ideally, but the good thing is that outside Richard Hamilton, artist, 2004 also representation by a major gallery in the US and Europe. Dealer representation is crucial for their work to the space is unlimited. be shown and sold and for their careers to be managed. ” Most artists with commercial representation attain it at Matt Hale, Paul Noble, Pete Owen and the outset of their career. The importance for an artist to John Burgess of City Racing, London, 2002 have a physical showcase for their work in the form of a commercial gallery cannot be underestimated.

24 Characterising the market

Page 15 “A good dealer is someone Relationships between artists and dealers can be volatile Distribution who is assiduous in their and depend on myriad factors: personal, financial and following and support emotional. The dealer can variously assume the role In England there are around 1,170 outlets (including of your work. A good of parent, partner, mentor and friend with all the open studios, auction houses, art fairs and non-profit dealer should also be a keen upheavals and reassessments that this implies. Often and public galleries selling art) which describe follower of its development, artists and dealers come together early in their themselves as selling contemporary art. Out of these, someone who is as keen respective careers and grow in unison. This can cause 439 (43%) have a London postcode. 14 However, if this as you are to reassess your tensions. Sometimes artists may feel the need to sample is narrowed-down to commercial galleries solely assumptions and to test ‘upgrade’ their commercial gallery if they feel that their devoted to sales of challenging contemporary art, then your envelope, but who also dealer has not grown sufficiently in stature alongside London has the virtual monopoly. understands the context in them; or reciprocally dealers may want to shed some which the work is shown of their artists who have not fulfilled their early promise. Dealers locally, nationally and On the other hand, artists and dealers may also remain The largest and most important type of distributor is the internationally. In some resolutely loyal to each other, even when it is not commercial gallery. It is the dealer – and specifically the sense a good dealer is a necessarily to their financial benefit. One of the main dealer with his or her own gallery space – who invariably marriage broker between reasons why artists are so eager to find a dealer is provides the artist with a crucial entry point to collectors aspirant collectors and the because of this long-term investment that most dealers and also to critics and institutions. nature and internal integrity are prepared to make in the artists that they represent. of the work, s/he must be Dealers are diverse in their backgrounds and the same passionate partisan Yet while it may not be beneficial (and indeed is often professional interests. The common career path for an for the artist’s work as the seen as counterproductive) for artists to market and sell art dealer is a fine art or art history degree, followed collector, but with a higher their work directly, it is nonetheless crucial that, right by either practical experience in a commercial gallery, level of strategic interest.” from the beginning of their careers, they display the working for an auction , working in the public Antony Gormley, artist, 2004 utmost professionalism in their dealings with both the sector in either an arts institution or a publicly funded market and the public sector. Artists are all too aware gallery, or as a curator in an artist-run project space. that if they are to be taken seriously then they need to Sometimes collectors turn into dealers, and conversely be utterly rigorous in the presentation of their work as most dealers build significant collections of their own. well as the carrying-out of commissions, contractual The funds to start a gallery can come from a variety of obligations, and working to a budget. sources, whether private personal income or a previous Double career in fields such as finance/law/marketing. Often In general, artists can be seen as highly efficient micro a dealer will have behind-the-scenes financial backing -click businesses which, often on the slenderest of means, from often anonymous supporters who may or may here to are able to convert creative value into commercial not wish to be involved in the activities of the gallery. worth. This covers a breadth of practice that spans edit artists working in different contexts, in spaces orthodox Some of the most distinguished galleries in London text. and unorthodox, whose work may or may not be are family businesses, such as Gimpel Fils, founded destined for the art market. by pioneering dealers Charles and Peter Gimpel in 26 Characterising the market

Page 16 Although a lot of older dealers and “A commercial gallery 1946 (whose father had run a gallery Paris since the is part business and 19th century) and Annely Juda who opened her gallery “ some of the new ones are doing very part magic – it would in 1968. Others, such as Nicholas Logsdail of the Lisson http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 10 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM “ part magic – it would in 1968. Others, such as Nicholas Logsdail of the Lisson well, it’s true that you don’t do it for be impossible to write a Gallery, began as practising artists. But whatever their business plan for one. Some origin, the starting point for virtually all dealers is a love material rewards. And just as if an of the things that work the of art which they then turn into a business. Although artist were seen driving from his or best haven’t necessarily had there are large amounts of money to be made in lots of money thrown at contemporary art, none of this country’s most prominent her mansion in Knightsbridge in a big them. The whole business dealers of challenging contemporary art originally chauffeur-driven limousine, that would is very unpredictable. For embarked upon this career path for profit. Indeed, be questionable in terms of their art, me it’s a life’s work, not many dealers – large and small – often support artists a managerial plan: I see to their own financial detriment. to some extent dealers have to be myself as an entrepreneur careful as well: there’s a sense in with a philosophy.” Every commercial gallery has its own characteristics , Director, based on the personality of its founder. The highest- which if you flaunt your wealth, Interim Art, London, 2004 earning contemporary art galleries based in England: people will lose interest in you. Like , White Cube, Victoria Miro and Gagosian, all have very different modus operandi; and vary literary agents or agents for actors, according to turnover, organisational capacity, type art dealers are expected to put the of programme, stock, and status in market-place. success of the people they represent For every generation of artists there seems to be a before their own success. You cannot generation of dealers. Artists and dealers often develop live better than your most successful in tandem and bring a generation of collectors with them. is indelibly linked with a very particular artist, that would be unseemly. group of so-called of the 1990s, 15 René Gimpel, Director, ” even though his gallery now shows an international roster of artists from across the globe and of all different Gimpel Fils, London, 2004 age groups. Lisson Gallery made its name working with key international figures in the 1970s and now works with some 40 artists spanning Sol LeWitt to Angela de la Cruz. But Lisson’s crucial growth surge was in tandem with the so-called New British Sculptors of the 1980s 16 whom the Lisson supported at the beginning of their careers and whom it largely continues to represent.

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“I always follow up any Commercial galleries selling challenging contemporary in a contemporary art gallery is not owned by the gallery recommendations from my art range from multi-million operations with a large but is on consignment from the artist for the dealer to artists – it’s the best route stable, staff and premises, to small spaces combining sell. This crucially distinguishes the commercial art gallery in bringing artists to my artists’ projects with sales. Scale does not prevent a from any other retail outlet. Artists tend to be paid when attention. Of course it gallery from making important sales and attracting the dealer is paid, except in the exceptional instances doesn’t necessarily mean widespread endorsement. At times, commercial galleries when the dealer offers the artist a stipend. Sometimes that I take them on, but it large and small adopt some basic institutional work is paid for in instalments and discounts may be does mean that I keep an characteristics: running education programmes, putting given to important collectors or prestigious public eye on them and follow on off-site projects, bringing in outside curators and institutions. On occasions, if the production costs of their careers. Sometimes publishing academic catalogues to accompany shows. an artwork are high, dealers may meet or assist with they do join the gallery, A more recent development is those dealers operating artists’ costs in return for higher commission against sales. but if I took on everyone outside London in rural locations, such as Roche Court recommended to me then near Salisbury, which in its urban incarnation was the In return, the dealer is expected to bear the cost of I’d have a huge stable!” New Art Centre, London, and Goodwood Sculpture running a gallery and attending art fairs, to take

Victoria Miro, Director, Victoria Park near Chichester. responsibility for the works in the gallery’s possession Miro Gallery, London, 2004 and to cover their insurance. Some larger galleries More traditional, long-established dealers – such as operate subsidiary companies in countries where VAT Gimpel Fils or Mayor Gallery – frequently make forays is lower; others work as agents so that VAT is only due into the latest in challenging contemporary art. These on their profit of a sale price. There are also a small venerable organisations, which are widely respected number of artists’ agents who operate as dealers for the historical figures they represent, provide an without a gallery. These also include some publicly interesting art historical context for the young artists funded commissioning agencies that sell work. that they choose to show. Reciprocally, some of the more prominent challenging contemporary art galleries Artists and dealers therefore often have a highly personal provide occasional English showcases for more mature relationship that extends well beyond the mere selling

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international figures. Such associations accrue younger of work. Dealers need to develop different strategies dealers and their artists’ status and gravitas; while the to nurture this relationship, to complement their artists, venerable big names relish the invigoration of an to expand their gallery capacity and to manage their encounter with the new. artists’ careers. Good dealers will respect and act upon recommendations from their existing stable of artists How dealers operate as to which new artists to consider taking on. In addition There is no standard code of procedure among to showing and selling work, the commercial gallery is contemporary art dealers. Even in the larger galleries often an important conduit enabling the artist to engage the way that business is conducted is often surprisingly with the popular media. Many dealers have a keen informal and based on trust. Written contracts between awareness of the power of publicity, and run highly artist and dealer are rare, with dealers generally taking efficient press and publicity departments which are 40–50% commission against sales. Much work on show solely devoted to the handling of media coverage. 30 Distribution

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“The London art market Art fairs “The work in ARTfutures with the high-end contemporary art market in this was sufficiently developed Art fairs are not only about selling as much art as is by artists known and country, most of the major sales at the first Frieze Fair to sustain an international possible, they are also major meeting and operating unknown which have been were made to overseas collectors. For this fair to prosper art fair and everyone was points for collectors. They provide an invaluable individually chosen to and thrive, a home market needs to be developed. wondering why it hadn’t opportunity to advertise and showcase galleries and encourage a new range Frieze organisers are optimistic that this market does been done – so we thought their artists in a location where they can reach large of collectors and directly exist and is ripe for expansion. we’d better go ahead and do numbers of existing and new buyers in a short space to benefit those artists. We it before somebody else did. of time. Recently there has also been a merging of put artists in touch with their The London Art Fair held every year in Islington shows We were delighted that the the private and public, with many art fairs now new buyers, keep buyers in a range of work by living artists as well as historical success of the first Frieze commissioning ostensibly non-commercial, touch through CAS events pieces. Its turnover in sales in 2003 was £12 million. In Fair meant that we can now independently-curated artists’ projects which can and any surplus earned the past it has shown a number of major galleries selling make it an annual event – take place in a variety of locations, either within helps us buy works for UK challenging contemporary art, although with the arrival it’s a real confirmation that or outside the body of the fair. museums. It’s a benign circle of Frieze their number has reduced. Special attention London is now a major art as well as a fantastic and must be given, however, to the Fair’s START section, market centre – although The most important international contemporary art fair frenzied event.” which is specifically devoted to showcasing challenging

there’s still a great deal of is Art Basel, which takes place annually in June. In 2002 Gill Hedley, Director, Contemporary work by emerging galleries and artists who are not yet potential for expansion.” Art Basel inaugurated a US arm in the form of Art Basel Art Society, 2004 sufficiently well-established for inclusion in Frieze.

Matthew Slotover, Co-Director, Miami Beach which runs every December. Other major Frieze Art Fair, 2004 art fairs include ARCO in Madrid, Art Cologne, Art On a more modest scale – with an annual turnover Forum in Berlin, the Chicago Art Fair, the Armory in of around £150,000 – the Contemporary Art Society’s New York and the Turin Art Fair. (CAS) annual ARTfutures Fair in London, featuring work by recent graduates as well as more established names The recent success of Frieze Art Fair has shown that all of which have been handpicked by the CAS, is a England can, for the first time, sustain a fully-fledged significant showcase for new buyers. Other fairs such as international art fair devoted solely to challenging the various Affordable Art Fairs mostly sell a wide range contemporary art. The first Frieze Art Fair in October of art, but not work which could generally be described 2003 attracted major galleries and collectors from as challenging. However all these fairs attract large across the globe as well as all the leading UK dealers. numbers of visitors and their turnover figures increase Its estimated turnover was £16 to 20 million, with many every year and they undoubtedly provide an accessible of the galleries involved reporting significant after-sales. 17 opportunity for people to buy art, often for the first time. But it is not known how many of these purchasers The success of Frieze Art Fair was an important then make the transition to acquiring the kind of validation for the English contemporary art market- artworks under discussion here. place. As an annual event on the national and international art calendar, it will provide a crucial stimulus for this market-place. However many participants commented that, as is always the case 32 Distribution

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Other spaces Open studios take place when a group of artists open Open studios are, potentially, their workplaces to the public for a set period of time. “ a major element of the tourist They are usually organised by the artists themselves, with agencies such as local councils sometimes playing and visitor industry. They http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 12 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM and visitor industry. They a role. Open studios form a direct and unintimidating way for both artist and buyer to come together to represent a move beyond show and to sell art. They are usually organised by artists who are eager to attract sales and audiences ‘star’ attractions such as Tate and are an especially effective outlet in locations, both Modern or the Angel of the urban and rural, where the commercial infrastructure is underdeveloped. Open studio events also work well North, to a celebration of in metropolitan areas such as in Waygood, Newcastle and the Tannery in the East End of London, where grass-roots practice and local they complement existing outlets, both public creativity … Talking to and and commercial. watching artists at work Whether they are taking place in just one building or in a number of workspaces, open studios not only opens up new understandings. provide a valuable showcase for artists who may not have commercial representation, but their financial Visitors learn much from benefits can also be considerable. In 2002 research meeting artists, gaining first- commissioned by the Arts Council surveyed 32 open studio events around England, and calculated that they hand knowledge of where, attracted some 250,000 visitors and generated total sales of around £1.5 million, even though selling was how and why art gets made. not a major objective of all events. 18 Also providing a Paul Glinkowski, Arts Council England, 2003 ” paradigm for this practice are the new lottery-funded workspaces Spike Island in Bristol and Persistance Works in Sheffield that have stimulated the economy for artists and whose open studio events provide a new destination for ever-wider audiences.

The nature of open studios is that they are open to all who work on the premises. This necessarily means that they tend to cover a broad spectrum of the visual and applied arts. But while much of the art on show 34 Distribution

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“If you approach the Arts at these events may not always answer to the definition and exhibition selectors have included Konrad Fischer, Council for money [as a of challenging contemporary art, nonetheless they Neo Rausch, Giuseppe Penone and Peter Doig, while commercial gallery], you are important celebrations of local creativity, enabling artists whose careers have been launched by being can’t then sell the work or a wide variety of art to be seen by new audiences selected or winning the EAST award include Tomoko make a profit on it, which and acting as a conduit between art and the wider Takahashi, Martin Creed and Lucy McKenzie. is a massive problem if economy. Often more challenging work is showcased you are a small commercial in designated exhibition or project spaces; and overall, Retailers space who also does being given the opportunity for an informal insight There are other retail-style outlets, such as the Biscuit projects with artists. I think into the artist’s workplace is a vital element in the Factory in Newcastle, and Comme Ca Art in Manchester the barriers between worthy demystification of art, and can make it easier for which are also distributors of art and often sited in non-commercial shows lookers to take the plunge to become buyers. regional cities as well as in London. 19 Even though the and ruthlessly commercial art that they sell tends to be outside the endorsement shows have been eroded, the Small-scale and more informal, artist-run and emerging process, and cannot usually be described as challenging nature of spaces has evolved spaces and some commissioning agencies provide a contemporary, these outlets consciously aim to provide and the distinctions between crucial showcase for the most experimental work and alternatives to the traditional ways in which art is sold commercial and non- are also an important entry point for younger as well and to reach out to new markets. The success of these commercial are disappearing as more established collectors. Often boundaries are new models confirms that a large market exists for – this blurring is happening blurred between commercial shows and artists’ projects more accessible art by living artists. A number of these everywhere, major public – if, indeed it is helpful to make such distinctions in the outlets have indicated a willingness to work with more spaces now sell work: in first place. These spaces may not be overtly commercial challenging forms of contemporary art – either by the Whitechapel’s East End but they often make very significant sales while at the collaborating with established dealers or by bringing Academy the work was same time continuing to maintain an experimental, in independent curators – and if this is so then it is for sale.” challenging image. Some financial support at the possible that a proportion of their current buyers could

Niru Ratnam, Director, outset, and at key points in their development would become more adventurous in their purchases. Store, London, 2004 help these important sources of cultural vitality to prosper and grow. While the art currently sold by these alternative outlets may not be especially challenging, their Key open shows such as EAST International, Norwich, immense popularity means that they often provide the http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 13 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

and Bloomberg New Contemporaries also provide an first rung on the ladder for new buyers, especially in entry point for artists and collectors. They make sales locations where there may not be many – or any – and showcase artists at the beginning of their careers. commercial art galleries. Many have already expressed EAST International is organised by the Norwich Gallery interest in becoming involved in the promotion of and, as the largest annual international exhibition of challenging contemporary work, and they should be contemporary art held in Britain, it has been especially encouraged to do so. This could be achieved through important in bringing an international perspective to working with guest curators or galleries and/or the the regional scene. EAST imposes no rules of age, funding of marketing and educational initiatives. Also status, media or place of residence on its applicants, the past success of presenting challenging contemporary 36 Distribution

Page 21 art in established retail outlets such as Habitat Buyers and Selfridges has further potential.

People start to buy art for many different reasons Websites “Art is sexy! Art is money- sexy! Art is money-sexy- and defining contemporary art is a highly subjective The fact that much visual art, contemporary or social-climbing-fantastic!” business. What is regarded as ‘challenging’ can vary otherwise, is either unique or limited in number does greatly from one individual to another. This makes it very not make it immediately conducive to the bulk sales of Thomas Hoving, Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art (1967–77), 1990 difficult to estimate numbers of potential – and actual – an online market-place. Also, most art doesn’t look its buyers and to establish the size of the potential market. best as a jpeg and it is hard for buyers to see what they are getting. The mixed fortunes of online contemporary With buyers, as with every other aspect of the art gallery eyestorm (which, despite a high profile contemporary art world, categories are by no means marketing campaign, failed once and then was rigid. The permeability of the boundaries between refinanced and has now joined forces with Britart.com) buyers of challenging contemporary art and buyers shows that the online market-place is by no means of art by living artists means that these two groupings an assured one. need not be mutually exclusive. Given the right circumstances and encouragement, a collector’s Counter Editions, which sells limited series of specially- tastes can develop from the conventional into the commissioned prints and multiples online, owes much experimental; and history has repeatedly proved that of its success to the fact that it is not entirely web-based occasional art purchasers can – and do – evolve into and provides various opportunities for a physical serious and committed collectors. encounter with the works via a number of high-profile media and institutional partnerships. Counter is run For Taste Buds Morris Hargreaves McIntyre looked by contemporary art market insiders and assures the to identify the current and potential buyer base in quality of the works sold and their suitability for England. The research attempted to analyse buyers of internet exposure by working closely with selected contemporary original art, taking into account the wider artists. Editions are not too large (on average 200) constituency of buyers, actual and potential, of art by and publicity is carefully focused on potential buyers. living artists which is not endorsed and which is outside the focus of ‘challenging contemporary’. 20 Although it is currently restricted to the secondary market-place, as market consumption becomes more They interviewed a sample of 6,141 people throughout confident, there is also potential for primary market England 21 27% of which said that they would consider sales on eBay. buying original art. This percentage was built into the population of England and translated into a potential market for original art of all forms of some 10.8 million. Original art here covers artists, dead and alive, and ranges from traditional styles and genres to work that can be defined as challenging and contemporary. It also 38 Distribution

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“Ten years ago my husband includes editioned photographic works and works The research also highlighted a substantial potential Poju and I were too scared on paper, but not mass-reproductions. market for art by living artists – and possibly, challenging to go into contemporary contemporary art – outside London. This was art because it was still a However, within this figure of 27% of the population, proportionately nearly the same as that in the capital. daunting subject so we those committed to purchasing challenging Out of those adults outside London who said that they went straight into English contemporary art is comparatively small. The research would buy original art, 69% also declared that they Modernism and bought reveals that out of potential buyers of original art, less had either bought or would be prepared to buy work Auerbach and Nicholson. than 1% – some 43,000 – stated that, not only had that was ‘cutting edge’ if it were within their price http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 14 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

But suddenly one day, with they bought art by a living artist, but that they would range. This is compared to 70% of an equivalent our wonderful relationship only or mostly buy ‘artists who are recognised as being sample taken from those living in London. It has to with the Tate and having at the cutting edge of contemporary art and whose be noted, however, that (as with Taste Buds’ national great inspirational collectors work is acclaimed by people in contemporary art sample) out of this group of potential original art buyers around us, we discovered circles’, ie challenging contemporary art. The research a substantial proportion – 33% in London and 41% contemporary art. It started also highlighted that 11% of potential buyers (1.2 in the regions – had never actually bought any original with Matthew Barney and million people) had already bought art by a living artist art at all, cutting edge or otherwise. But even a it just went from there.” and said that they would ‘equally’ buy cutting edge declaration of intent from such a large number indicates

Anita Zabludowicz, collector and founding work as any other. a groundswell of interest in original art by living artists benefactor of Tate Modern, 2004 that could be channelled into purchases, possibly of Given the abiding problem of applying clear definitions a challenging nature. when the notion of contemporary art varies so much from individual to individual, the art that this potential Top-level and committed collectors market considers to be ‘cutting edge’ may not The current market for challenging contemporary art necessarily fit the definition of challenging contemporary in this country can be envisaged as a pyramid with a art as laid down here. very small number – estimated by art market insiders at around 100 – of established international top-level Yet despite these ambiguities, the possibility that 27% collectors at its pinnacle. A broader band of serious of the national population could be in the market for collectors lies beneath, and below that a band of original art cannot be discounted. And especially when committed collectors that is broader still. Beneath, a large proportion of this potential market – nearly 70% there are various strata of buyers who become – has stated that they would consider buying work by increasingly intermittent and/or occasional as they ‘cutting edge’ artists if it were within their price range. 22 broaden out towards the base. As always, there can While there is no guarantee that anything like this be movement – up and down – between these strata number of people would definitely make a purchase, at any given time; but the further up the pyramid, the it indicates an unprecedented level of interest and demarcations tend to become more rigid, with only appetite for contemporary art. relatively few buyers having sufficient time, money and commitment to be classed as serious collectors of challenging contemporary art. 40 Buyers

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“Markets start when Many of the highest-earning challenging contemporary “The whole socio-economic Serious and committed collectors of challenging there are international, not art dealers indicate that the majority of their sales are basis of the art buying class contemporary art can come from a range of professions. provincial people. If you look made to an overseas market of established international has changed. The old They can be from the creative industries but are just as at big cities like New York collectors. Significantly, the serious collectors who are traditional classes who likely to be lawyers, financiers, industrialists, or from the or London they’re not all based in England often tend to be from other nations lived with stuff inherited medical and clinical professions. They can also come Americans or English, it’s a including Asia and the Middle East, as well as America from relations – or if they from manufacturing and retail. 23 melting pot of people that and Europe. The reasons why this should be so emerge didn’t live with it, aspired come from other places to from a complex mixture of factors ranging through to live that way – really Apart from a very few notable exceptions, the majority live there. The very wealthy historical, cultural, and financial. The English have a have been given the coup of serious collectors of challenging contemporary art are don’t necessarily buy art – time-honoured tendency to prefer their art to affirm de grace. We have seen based in London. Overall, art collectors are notoriously you’ve got to be that type rather than to challenge the status quo; and not since the real end of traditional idiosyncratic and secretive and their motives are various of person. The problem with the 19th century have institutions been encouraged to Britain. People don’t aspire and complex. Some collect for investment, but for me is I get impatient with acquire art on any grand scale. More recently, there to live with nice Georgian only a very few is this the primary motivation. Many everything – there was no have been no financial incentives for individuals either antiques, any more; they collectors acknowledge that collecting is a compulsion movement in that Modern to collect or to bequeath art. want to have modern bordering on an obsession. Some relish the power that British market: a Lowry things. In order to spend they can wield within the arts establishment and the here, a Burra there, an Nonetheless, the last decade has seen a notable money on art you need to cultural capital accrued by investing in art that is radical Armitage here: they’re expansion in the home market. Among the highest feel that you can renew your and challenging. Others are attracted by the thrill of the all bloody dead! Whereas echelons of art collecting there continues to be only a source of wealth: if you are chase, the challenge of pitting their wits against rivals; contemporary art is alive few serious and committed collectors based in England, living on inherited wealth, and the risk involved in acquiring something that many and kicking – the good, but there is evidence of an increasing interest in art however much you’ve got, people find difficult to understand. Then there is the the bad, the ugly – all the acquisition amongst a number of wealthy individuals. you are not going to spend empathy enjoyed by many collectors with the artists slagging-off, I love it!” The general consensus amongst art market insiders is very much of it on buying and dealers with whom they do business. This, along

Frank Cohen, collector, that this top-level market, although comparatively small, art. You have to be making with a more general enjoyment of the art world, its Manchester, 2004 has considerable potential for expansion. This potential the money yourself, and events and its lifestyle is an important factor for many seems to be confirmed by the existence of organisations a lot of people now are.” contemporary art collectors, both national and

such as Outset, an exclusive group of London-based Anna Somers-Cocks, General Editorial international. The social attraction of collecting art ‘supporters of new art’ whose circle of members were Director, The Art Newspaper, 2004 cannot be underestimated. On their own or in any invited to make donations in the region of £5,000 in number of combinations, these factors all have a order to generate a £100,000 Special Acquisitions Fund. crucial part to play. This was then spent by four invited curators at the 2003 http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 15 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

Frieze Fair on artworks donated to the Tate. This sum Regular collectors and occasional buyers was increased to £150,000 for 2004 and the Special The larger pool of regular but smaller-scale investors in Acquisitions Fund seems set to become a regular challenging contemporary art are also very various; as feature of future Frieze Fairs. are those who make occasional purchases. These are individuals who regularly attend art exhibitions and who earn enough or have sufficient funds to spend 42 Buyers

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“The thing about collecting the surplus on art. Some may begin by buying safer, is, it’s to get the green one more accessible work and then, as their confidence It’s important for me to with the red spots and the increases, branch out into more adventurous areas. “ curly handle. And then, These buyers come from all professional groups, the meet and to know the when you’ve got a green financial sector, education, health, the law, the arts and one with red spots and a the cultural industries. Often these buyers may already artists: it’s not necessarily curly handle, you look for be involved in the art world or are fellow artists who the green one with the admire and wish to own work by their peers. There about understanding red spots, the curly handle are also those with less specialist knowledge of the and the blue spout.” art world but who are enthused by the celebrity of their work – it’s just

Lord McAlpine, collector, 2004 contemporary art and the fact that media coverage and high-profile events such as Frieze Art Fair have that they are the sort transformed what was previously a hidden world into one that is more accessible. of people who, just by

A new phenomenon, and one that has considerable talking to them get my potential, is the small collective or syndicate of buyers who buy work to share on a time-limited basis and brain working. They pull together share their knowledge and connections with artists on the market. This allows people with average a curtain back and you incomes to experience, for a small monthly contribution to a purchasing fund, a flow of new, challenging work get to peep behind that into their homes. curtain and that for me Committed and regular collectors: relationship to the market is the thing that drives Serious and committed collectors are already embedded within the art market-place, they have my interest. forged relationships with dealers and artists, and they Richard Greer, collector, London,” 2004 are well-informed as to market-place workings and infrastructure. However the competition amongst serious collectors for big-name, endorsed artists can be fierce and there can be considerable resentment directed towards the dealers who seek to maintain their artists’ reputation by only selling significant works to suitably prestigious collectors. At the top of the ‘pyramid’ of buyers, the ratio of artworks to collectors tends to 44 Buyers

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“The London art world narrow dramatically, with the demand from collectors “Many galleries are serious and committed collectors of this kind of needs an initiative to build for work by a small number of key artist names being actually very off-putting contemporary art may have embarked upon their confidence in the next way greater than the supply of work available. unless you have got a collecting career through other routes, but some did generation of artists, dealers Progressing down towards the base of the art market reason to be in there. begin by making purchases of more accessible art by and collectors, and this can pyramid the reverse situation applies, with the art There are an awful lot living artists, as did a considerable number of those be built through established available greatly exceeding the number of collectors of Fionas behind the who are now intermittent or occasional buyers of collectors. A lot of people willing to buy it. desk who look at you challenging work. who buy art at auction never rather darkly.”

go to East End galleries and On these lower levels larger groupings of more Unidentified buyer, interviewed In common with the very various buyers of challenging so they are not getting a occasional buyers have a different relationship to the in Taste Buds, 2004 contemporary art, this grouping ranges across the relationship with the art market-place. They often need to forge closer professions and industries, with those working in http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 16 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

world, the artists and the relationships with galleries and artists and to gain a education, health and the public sector making up the dealers. And that’s when greater knowledge of the market-place and what is largest part of the potential market in both London and you get the good stuff. available. Many need more mentoring from dealers and the regions. Their motivation is similarly various and can Once you get the ear of the the chance to develop more confidence in their own range from considerations of decor to a desire to follow dealer, they will tip you off, tastes. There is also a widely held misconception that new trends or to develop their own sense of style. tell you about things early the work will be beyond their price range: many buyers and you get to visit the are surprised to learn how affordable challenging Buyers of art by living artists: artists in their studios – contemporary art can be. Other consumers may have relationship to the market and you also get the more of a retail attitude to art acquisition, purchasing The fact that these identified buyers of art by living social side of things.” art for the same reasons that they would an item of artists have hitherto been reluctant to take the plunge

David Risley, Director, David Risley clothing or furniture: they like the look and they like into more adventurous art purchasing arises from a Gallery, Co-Director, Bloomberg what it says about them as individuals. number of often interrelated factors. These include a Space, London, 2004 nervousness and/or lack of knowledge about more Buyers of art by living artists challenging artforms, a regional lack of access to a Many people already do buy art, but not art that could developed market infrastructure, feelings of alienation be described as challenging contemporary. A small and inadequacy when faced by the workings of the proportion can be found at the bottom of the ‘pyramid’ art market or the perception that buying challenging of buyers for challenging contemporary art, but most contemporary art is expensive and beyond their means. have not entered this market-place, and the art that Whilst many people may like the idea of owning more they buy has not been endorsed by the contemporary challenging contemporary art, they may not know how art world. However, given their stated interest in more or where to access it. Often they want to learn more challenging work, if this very large and various sector about both the art and its outlets but at the same time were given more opportunities to encounter differing have a deep fear of exposing their ignorance. There artforms and the means with which to purchase them, exists a profound suspicion of the gallery system then there is a strong possibility that a considerable amongst these potential buyers, many of whom regard number could expand their scope. The majority of commercial galleries as unwelcoming and intimidating, 46 Buyers

Page 26 with dealers being accused of not doing enough to Public sector encourage first-time buyers or to providing adequate after sales treatment. “The Arts Council’s The other key element within the contemporary art objective is to support market is the public sector. From art school to subsidised A significant number of these buyers feel more artists to develop their studio, from being selected by a public gallery curator comfortable purchasing from smaller, more informal practice in whichever way to being purchased by a major institution, from being galleries or directly from the artists themselves. Art fairs is appropriate; and in some invited to lend a work for a publicly funded show or such as ARTfutures, the Affordable Art Fairs or the cases this will mean enabling sit on a public gallery board, artists, dealers and buyers London Art Fair can also be a useful entry point. The them to seek opportunities of challenging contemporary art cannot operate within Fresh Art Fair, in Islington, of recent graduates from through the market. the contemporary art market without constant and around the country has also opened up this market to This pre-supposes a close crucial encounters with publicly funded galleries and a wider public. Another favoured outlet is the art school working knowledge of organisations. These span what is an essentially degree show. Open studios are also an important the international art market fragmented sector – from museums to independent purchasing point for this market. However, once they while at the same time galleries – which is part funded by central government start buying, a significant proportion of these buyers respecting the need for the through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have demonstrated an eagerness to develop their Arts Council to maintain (DCMS), the local authorities and the Arts Council. knowledge and to apply this knowledge to purchasing some distance from playing While the Arts Council is most directly concerned decisions. Even if they do not become serious collectors, a too active or interventionist with the artist, its remit also extends to a shared this exploration of different artistic options often results role within the market.” responsibility for a national policy for enabling access in a move to acquire less conservative work, albeit in to contemporary art through publicly funded galleries modest amounts. In any case, the art world is a broad Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton, Director Visual Arts, Arts Council England, 2004 and organisations. church and if more buyers can be encouraged to buy art by living artists, whether or not this art forms a Arts Council supporting the market bridge to more challenging work, a wider and more Over the last 10 years the Arts Council has developed active interest in art and artists can only be to the a series of funding and support initiatives for visual 24 benefit of all aspects of the art market. artists. These public funds have helped to nurture a more sympathetic environment for artists in England, in which they can demand better earnings, gain easier access to quality work spaces, receive greater opportunities to travel and improve their business and critical skills through a range of peer review and advisory services. This process has been given further momentum with the publication of Arts Council England’s manifesto

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document Ambitions for the Arts 2003–2006 which announced that one of its main aims was to give ‘higher priority to the artist’. 25

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“Funding for artists comes Throughout the progress of an artist’s career the public “Being an artist is no less been very positive. It will be most useful in the regions with long ideological strings sector contributes to the endorsement process, whether lonely than it ever was. One where the commercial infrastructure is not so developed attached. As an artist, one in the form of exhibitions which come accompanied is just as insecure, unsure, and a loan of up to £2,000 will go further. The scheme has to use another language. by interpretative literature, critical commentary and self-critical. Through energy, has now been re-branded and will be launched with a The ideas, hunches and catalogue essays, and which often result in commissions perhaps some quality – or new identity, Own Art, later this year. It is interesting vacillations that accompany and purchases. The public sector then provides the luck – artists may become to note that many commercial galleries already offer the creation of an artwork ultimate validation by acquiring artworks for its major more visible. Not much their buyers long-term interest-free payments on an have to be banished so that museums and galleries. The Arts Council also provides response comes back to informal basis. a seamless project can be crucial support to artists early in their careers. Subsidised the artist from that visibility. proposed that can guarantee studios, publicly funded artist-run galleries and/or project One thing I like about this Another effective intervention into the market was a calculable return from spaces; artists’ residencies, international fellowships, project [At Home with Art] At Home with Art, whereby multiple household objects the potential audience – commissions and grants for individual projects are all is the prospect of new and were designed by artists, manufactured and sold regardless of race, creed helpful in bringing the artist to critical and/or commercial wider responses. The eye of through Homebase, exhibited at Tate Britain and then or colour.” attention. These relationships may be slippery, they are this project’s needle is the toured by the Hayward Gallery. 26 This initiative, funded 27 , artist, 2000 sometimes antagonistic but they are always regarded market. We are all handed by the Arts Council’s New Audiences Programme, by all parties involved as being essential, with long- the market-place as a fact pointed to the potential of contemporary works to find understood distinctions on roles and remits, namely of contemporary life. I was a place in domestic contexts and also to the fact that that the public venue does not actively promote direct very aware of the narrow art could be sold in a wider range of retail outlets. sales from its exhibitions, and that its role is primarily gap through which I had to There is also an educational context which chimes educational and celebratory. However, over the past pass. Can it be done? How with the wider mission of the public sector’s support decade, these distinctions have become more blurred much will it cost? It’s made for contemporary visual culture and design. as both the museums and the independent public sector me think about all the stuff have had to increase income generation and to engage around me in the market- Public galleries and some more overtly with the private sector. place – all optimistically commercial cross-dressing projected into space.” The traditional role of the publicly funded gallery is

2003 saw the pilot of Arts Council England's national Richard Wentworth, artist, 1999 to present the work of artists for the enjoyment and art purchase plan in partnership with HFC, a division enlightenment of the public while also widening of HSBC . This replaced the eight separate and opportunities for the artist to gain profile and visibility. largely unconnected regional art purchase schemes that Underpinning this function is the belief that the had previously been operating. The scheme's main aim public gallery provides an appropriate context for is to help develop the visual arts economy by making it the work, uncompromised by the concerns and the more affordable for the public to buy original, high- opportunism of the market. An exhibition may result quality contemporary art. It does this by offering point in financial benefit to the artist through the process of of sale, interest-free loans from over 250 galleries across endorsement, but the gallery is generally not directly the country. Although the national scheme is still in its involved in promoting or soliciting direct sales. This infancy, the feedback from participating galleries has ensures a level of objectivity in programme-making and enables a level of intellectual integrity. Now, 50 Public sector

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“Most people cannot afford though, this historical relationship is beginning to shift “Of our annual budget only funded public sector for providing important exhibition to own art and so the public and there is an urgent need to establish protocols to 24% comes from Arts opportunities which boost value and sales, others spaces are a really important respect the necessary difference of roles between the Council England. So our consider it to be an unwelcome dabbling in the point of access. There seems public and private arms of the art world. 28 funding doesn’t cover our commercial market which undercuts prices and can to be a confusion between running costs, and when undermine an artist’s market value. Some artists and populist and popular; they Faced by reduced subsidy and shortfalls in their funding, you put it in that context, dealers see this as an inappropriate use of the power should not be intimidating some public galleries have had to develop new ways it is a very, very extreme relationship between the artist and the public gallery. and exclusive, neither should of generating revenue to support their exhibitions state of affairs. We never they be detrimental to the programme. A recent strategy has been to enter into charge admission and so in Yet there are notable exceptions to this stricture. For objects which they contain. partnerships with commercial dealers in mounting order to keep our admission example The Photographers’ Gallery, London, has a I understand the financial exhibitions of contemporary art. The nature of these free, limited edition prints long established role in sales of photographic works pressures of an institution, arrangements varies as to what extent the dealer will are one of the income which is valued by photographers and artists and has but the quality of the contribute towards the cost of production and/or generators that we have. a respected place in the market. There is no doubt,

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experience should be transportation of artworks or assist in the publishing This relies on the generosity though, that in general these fiscal encounters have paramount. These are sacred of a catalogue. Sometimes the work in a public gallery of the artists and their to be very carefully handled, for if the publicly funded spaces to me, places to slow show is for sale, and there may be an arrangement dealers, but it can also be gallery or agency becomes embroiled in the selling down and take your time and between the dealer and the gallery as to a commission argued that it allows the business, then its role can become distorted and its make your own mind up.” on any sales made during an exhibition. Most venues public to buy really first integrity undermined. Therefore it is essential that the

Anya Gallaccio, artist, 2004 are concerned at least with recouping production rate works of art at an public sector engages with the market in order to and installation costs; and these arrangements have affordable price.” unpack and air the issues involved.

tended to be informal and private. However, while Julia Peyton-Jones, Director, inconsistencies in fees and commission paid by galleries Serpentine Gallery, London, 2004 Dealers and the public sector can be a bone of contention, where there are agreed While the national collections maintain amicable if not protocols, they are on a case-by-case basis and overall necessarily close relationships with some dealers, there both sides accrue benefit from the encounter. The can be a lack of understanding by the public sector of public gallery is able to mount a more ambitious show the commitment and role of dealers, particularly in the than its budget would otherwise have allowed, and speculative environment of challenging contemporary the commercial gallery receives a valuable public art where gains and losses can be made with equal endorsement of its artist’s work. certainty. The volatile nature of showing and selling new work has not prevented a growing number of Another way for public galleries to attempt to make dealers who are prepared to stake their survival and up for lost revenue is to produce and offer for sale their reputations on the artists in their ‘stables’; and editions or multiples of an exhibiting artist’s work. These throughout the art world the general view is that it is are often donated by the artist, who, although they will the commercial rather than the public sector which usually have had their materials and production costs leads the field in showcasing, promoting and developing covered, will not receive any royalties. While some artists the latest in contemporary art. and dealers view this practice as repayment to an under- 52 Public sector

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“Bridget Riley made a print It is generally the dealer, rather than the public curator, “When you go to regional its limited budget (£150,000 pa) the Arts Council for the Serpentine Gallery, who provides the initial support for artists at the galleries in France or Collection tends to concentrate on younger emerging and the idea was to make beginning of their careers; and as they progress through Germany they’re full of artists, but occasionally it does acquire ‘an outstanding it cheap so that a wider the endorsement process, artists often find that it is the mainstream recent art which work by a mature artist’. 30 Purchases are made for the audience could buy them. dealers, rather than the public sector that communicates you simply don’t see much collection by six selected individuals with usually an The opening night comes their intentions to a general audience. While the public of in the UK, outside of artist, a writer, and a curator joining the Director of around and there is one sector may assist artists early on with residencies and temporary exhibitions. This Visual Arts, Arts Council England, the Director of the of the ugliest fights at the grants, dealers see themselves as the ones who are in is because in Europe new Hayward Gallery and the Head of the Collection. New counter as all the collectors for the long haul: they are the ones who commit to art is something that is outside purchasers are appointed every 18 months to battled to get their hands artists through thick and thin and who nurture artistic supported consistently allow a change of views. on one. It was a bunch careers over often long periods of time. Many dealers whereas here the problem of rich people going for a feel that the complexity and significance of this role is is that it is never consistent, However, while the Arts Council Collection is held in bargain, they were literally not properly acknowledged. it’s either down to flash-in- high esteem, many dealers feel that purchases for public throwing their credit cards the-pan schemes or brilliant collections, both for the national museums and galleries across the counter.” There is a strong demand from artists, dealers and curators who come and go and especially those for regional galleries and local

Karsten Schubert, art dealer, galleries to draw up clear protocols for public museums from institutions. It needs authority museums are unstrategic, ill-informed, London, 2004 and galleries regarding artist’s commissions, multiples embedding in the culture conservative, out of date and made too late when prices and direct sales made from the gallery. These protocols of museums and galleries are too high. Other complaints are that the decision- should also include how dealers and galleries could that they should be making process is too long, payments are too slow and divide and recover exhibition and catalogue costs. Both acquiring this work.” unreasonable discounts are asked for. Dealers often resent

parties need to agree roles and responsibilities and clear Maurice Davies, Deputy Director, the fact that it is the commercial gallery which takes the strategies regarding the representation of artists without Museums Association, 2004 risk of investing in and supporting artists at the beginning dealers and the development of selling mechanisms, if of their careers, only for the public gallery to expect a deemed appropriate. 29 special price once all the hard work has been done and the artist’s reputation is secured. Overall, the commercial Public purchases sector is all too aware that buying by other collections in It is important for dealers that the public sector buys the European Union is more dynamic, open to risk and work for its collections as part of the endorsement immediate, and this is one reason dealers based in process. Many sales have been made over the years to England are so dependent on international markets. the Arts Council Collection, which is largest national loan collection of modern and contemporary British art Insufficient funding and the fact that there is no in the world and which began when The Arts Council coherent national strategy for collecting contemporary of Great Britain was founded in 1946. It numbers art means that, unless they have independent sources some 7,500 works ranging from painting, sculpture, of funding such as bequests, very few museums and photographs and original works on paper to mixed public galleries are able to pursue an active policy of media works, video, film and installation pieces, and purchasing challenging contemporary art for their http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 19 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

grows by around 30 works each year. Because of collections. The Arts Council’s 10 year intervention in 54 Public sector

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It works both ways, there are other rewards The best dealers support projects and “ in a truly collaborative relationship, in addition “ exhibitions by lending work, providing to the commercial. True, increased desperation information and occasionally contributing and greed has led to more exploitation and towards the cost of the catalogue or opening less nurture; and obviously most art has little party. They recognise the value of curatorially commercial value. But it doesn’t mean that led, non-commercial projects and some dealers it’s all bad art. Amidst that majority lies even employ staff specifically to handle artist some work that has exceptional value in liaison. But from the perspective of the other terms. When a gallery has a stubborn curator–artist relationship they stay largely commitment to an artist who never seems to invisible. This is important given the pressure make it, it may seem stupid to those who are many artists are under with multiple and thinking in commercial terms alone, but not overlapping commitments. The worst all galleries do. That commitment, of course, dealers let their short-term commercial reflects well on the rest of your trade and the interests influence all their relationships: belief others have in it. Most artists need a this can lead to unfortunate clashes of gallery to provide access to their work. The interest and be ultimately detrimental to way that is done varies according to the their artists’ development and career. rewards that both parties seek. Commitment ” to an artist that doesn’t seem to be going Andrew Nairne, Director, anywhere keeps the work (and maybe the , 2004 artist) alive for the time when that view may be seen to be wrong. Meanwhile, mad prices lead to mad evaluations … Anthony Reynolds, Director, ” Anthony Reynolds Gallery, 2004

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“For many smaller regional the late 80s to support programmes of contemporary art outright works of art to 90 museum collections across museums collecting in regional museums through ‘Glory of the Garden’ the UK. Every year the CAS gives a budget to three contemporary art presents funding led to some 50 new curatorial posts, but different individuals from the contemporary art world – a huge challenge, not just the subsequent lack of funds for programmes and private collectors, critics, independent experts – who in terms of raising the acquisitions and professional opportunities for curators then buy fine and applied art on their behalf. The range money, but also because the to travel and network have steadily eroded these gains. and scope of the purchases made reflect this constantly- prevailing political climate Good collections of modern and contemporary art may changing roster of buyers. is not very propitious and have been established, such as that of Southampton City there is a serious shortage Art Gallery, developed through the advice and gift of the In 1998 CAS secured a major Arts Council lottery of curatorial resources. We’ve late Dr David Brown of the Tate, but they need strong award of £2.5 million to develop the contemporary art always contributed towards curatorial resources in order to work to their potential. collections of 15 regional museums and galleries across the acquisition of a wide England. Each museum was involved over five years, range of works for collections The Goodison review: securing the best for museums: and the scheme was phased over three years. Crucially across the UK, but when we private giving and government support (2004) declares it enabled curators to travel to see work, to meet were planning our centenary that, although museums should be accumulating good colleagues and engage with the market through exhibition we were struck examples of contemporary art, ‘contemporary art poses attendance at key events such as Documenta and the http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 20 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

by the dearth of significant a particular problem’. 31 This, Sir Nicholas Goodison Venice Biennale and the art fairs, thus enhancing their contemporary works that states, is not only a matter of funding, but is also to do professional expertise and reputation. However, this we’d supported in the 20th with the uncertainty of backing particular living artists scheme comes to completion at the end of 2004, and century, particularly in before it is widely recognised that they are the most despite clarion calls from all quarters that this initiative the middle decades. We’re significant artists of their day. The report notes that the should not be lost; in the absence of further lottery therefore anxious that – Heritage Lottery Fund will not normally help with a work funding there are no immediate plans for its as a nation – we take full of art less than 10 years old, and while it acknowledges continuation. So, as the Goodison report confirms, advantage of the wonderful that the National Art Collections Fund (Art Fund) has despite the ‘sterling work’ 32 of the CAS, the acquisition opportunities for enriching markedly increased its support for contemporary art over of challenging contemporary art for public collections our public collections today the last two decades, it also observes that the Art Fund’s is at best piecemeal, at worse non-existent. with the most exciting primary remit is to assist in purchases, and not normally examples of contemporary to fund them outright. Public galleries as positive role models: art that are being produced national and regional purchasing strategy not only in the UK but also The Goodison report singles out for special praise the It is a widely held belief both in London as well as in around the world.” Contemporary Art Society, a private charity founded in the regions that local public collections could play a key

David Barrie, Director, National Art 1910 in response to the lack of official support for role in generating the art market in their regions if they Collections Fund, 2004 young artists in Great Britain. Part-funded by the Arts were able to pursue a more adventurous collecting Council, the CAS is one of the few means (apart from policy. They should do this in such a way that that they donations from private individuals) by which Britain’s both play to the strengths of their core collections and museums can acquire works of contemporary art. It act as a positive role model for local collectors. raises and uses its funds to purchase and hand over 58 Public sector

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The drafting of a National Collections Strategy and greater role in buying on behalf of public collections, Regional Purchasing Policies would bring together key making well-informed earlier purchases and shouldering players in public and private sectors to develop policies the risk. But there is little invitation or incentive for to encourage greater boldness and risk taking. The them to do so. Tate Patrons – which includes what Contemporary Art Society and its partner museums was formerly known as Patrons of New Art – is a currently provide a model for wider application. key exception. 33 In general, public sector curators are often perceived as too academic, too insular and not Training for regional curators sufficiently engaged with unfolding developments in Curators in smaller regional museums and public galleries contemporary art. would also greatly benefit from an extension of their professional development opportunities. This could range Overall, serious collectors believe that their role is not from expanding their curatorial skills and knowledge of fully appreciated by the public sector: after all, as history challenging contemporary art by being given an increased shows, without the input from collectors over the years chance to travel as well as various educational initiatives, the collections of virtually all our major galleries would including the opportunity to receive grounding in the be greatly denuded. dynamics of the art market. This would benefit all aspects of exhibition and gallery policy as well as improving their ability to negotiate and potentially to collaborate with those in the commercial sector.

Engaging with collectors The relationship between collectors and the public sector often begins as a close one, with many collectors stating that they were initially inspired by visits to public collections and that the public collections initially inspired them to build up their own acquisitions. They would therefore like to view these collections as positive role models for their own collecting. But although there is an acknowledged need for public institutions to build a relationship with collectors, in practice this rarely occurs and it is nearly always the dealer who acts as the mentor to the collector.

While being aware of the clear dangers of self-serving acquisitions where purchases for public collections could bolster the value of works in their own collections, serious collectors often feel that they could play a 60 Public sector

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Page 33 Regional collections have several hurdles Developing the market “ to overcome: one is the political will to buy, which is often conservative but also significant “If there was a real change Tax concessions/incentives if you wish to buy contemporary art, the other of thinking from the The single most effective way to assist the market for government with regard to challenging contemporary art in this country would be is the knowledge gap within the gallery about tax breaks on bequests and to implement a system of tax incentives to buy and to the art world, and how to go about the act donations, it could have a donate to public institutions. If collectors were given of purchasing in what can seem a strange, very pronounced impact. financial encouragement to donate not only to national even hostile, environment. Curators have I believe this could single- but also to local museums and galleries then this would handedly explode the have a dramatic effect on the art market-place both in to be trained and encouraged over time, to market and also provide London and the regions. Many major market players build a personal and institutional reputation a huge cultural legacy for believe that the single act of introducing an American- for buying artwork. Too often galleries the nation. Moreover, it style system of tax benefits to those donating works have a stop-start attitude to contemporary should really empower to public galleries would do more to activate the art collections and this leads to a lack of buying the provinces – encouraging market in London and beyond, than any other bequests to less well- combination of measures. It would also radically opportunities and a decline in the expertise endowed public institutions improve the health of England’s public collections. and confidence of the curators. Without this throughout Britain. So many confidence the curator is more likely to follow great contemporary works More sales could also be achieved if buyers did not the art pack and collect the usual suspects, go of art are sold abroad as there have to pay Value Added Tax. The fact that other for the safe option over the risky purchase, or is so little encouragement countries do not levy VAT on art sales places all the here in the UK.” English contemporary art dealers who operate within just not bother to buy at all. Once a gallery Jay Jopling, Director, an international context at a distinct disadvantage. stops collecting contemporary art it will White Cube, 2004 There is therefore a strong feeling amongst the struggle to get started again. To re-start you commercial sector that original works of art should need a sympathetic director, a proper not be categorised as consumer products but as financial investments, and therefore not be subject to VAT. purchasing plan, training and development opportunities, time in the artist’s studio and Trade association the commercial gallery and a budget that is This near-universal conviction that tax incentives and secure to allow time to grow in experience concessions would have a profound and positive impact and to make mistakes. on the market has resulted in strong backing for a UK trade association of contemporary art galleries. Not Nick Dodd, Chief Executive, Sheffield” only would a trade association give the sector a political Galleries and Museums Trust, 2004 and economic voice and the means to effectively lobby government but it would also enable other private sector industries as well as government at all levels – the

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“Tax breaks would certainly Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS); the “Original works of art Specifically, Taste Buds suggests that research should make a fundamental change Department of Trade and Industry (dti); the Department should not be categorised be conducted which compares the art market in which I think is absolutely for Education and Skills (DfES); British Council or Central for tax purposes in the England with markets for contemporary art in other necessary, but in my view Government – to engage with the contemporary art same way as consumer world centres such as Germany, Italy, Belgium and USA. we shouldn’t go to an market. The Arts Council could advise and support the goods. Artworks could be All of these measures would allow for greater analysis American situation which is establishment of such a body. treated in the same manner of this sector and would also provide an important only market, tax and private as financial vehicles, as advocacy tool with which to approach a wider range initiative driven. I think that In London there already exists the long-established investments. If you buy of government departments and agencies. 35 the strength of European Society of London Art Dealers (SLAD), whose stocks or bonds or PEPs museums is that, apart from membership includes dealers selling all forms of art or unit trusts, VAT is not Incentives for collectors the market-driven trends, from old masters through to (a few) galleries specialising applicable. It’s an uneven Leading dealers may declare that there are only there is also an artistic, in challenging contemporary art. However the focus of playing field.” a handful of serious collectors of challenging

intellectual, scientific, SLAD tends mainly to be on secondary market issues Nicholas Logsdail, Director, contemporary art based in England, but at the same research kind of approach and so a new organisation which is solely concerned Lisson Gallery, London, 2004 time there is also an increasing awareness of a large and that can only come from with the primary market for challenging contemporary pool of potential collectors towards the top as well as the public sector because art is now needed. Out of this trade association could the lower strata of the contemporary art market. While it guarantees a degree of emerge an international trade mission which would financial incentives and tax breaks for donations would autonomy from the market. assist in promoting the contemporary art market provide the most effective long-term means to nurture This autonomy makes it overseas; and lobby for government subsidy for this crucial area of the market as well as their suppliers; http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 22 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

possible to fill gaps in showing at the major international contemporary art in the shorter term provision can be made for the large collections which are not so fairs, for example. The dti offers subsidies to other number of buyers of contemporary art who are currently market-popular, and I think economic/cultural sectors – including publishing not recognised as serious collectors as well as number that governmental bodies and design – to fly the flag overseas, so why not of potential buyers who are eager to support have a remaining task and contemporary art galleries? 34 The boom in the British challenging contemporary art. a responsibility to continue art market has to a great extent been fed by the this kind of seriousness emergence of many small-scale commercial agents Both of these groupings need to find congenial ways in and autonomy of really and dealers who need support to develop their markets which to expand their knowledge and to increase their collecting, not just internationally and to attend overseas art fairs. confidence. Various educational initiatives such as the accumulating objects.” specially-invited lectures organised by Frieze Art Fair, in

Jan Debbaut, Director of More data needed collaboration with the Arts Council are already in place Collections, Tate, 2004 Underpinning all these considerations, however, is the and should be supported and built-upon, but possibly overall necessity for more information on all aspects of by elements within the commercial sector rather than the art market. Taste Buds provided a valuable starting the Arts Council. point, but in order to build the market’s credibility as an economic sector more hard data needs to be Encouragement should also be given to young collectors’ available. Further research could build on Morris initiatives such as Blood, the new membership initiative Hargreaves McIntyre’s endeavours to assess the market. launched in 2001 by the Contemporary Art Society 64 Developing the market

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“The establishment of which aims to encourage a network of new collectors, “What’s not in short supply local sales will be sporadic and inadequate. Similarly, a trade association for artists and art professionals through monthly events in Manchester is artists: the Newcastle/Gateshead region has significant and contemporary commercial which are communicated by email. This project also there are tons of artists committed public art galleries, energetic art schools and dealers would enable reflects the strategy of expanding the collector base who would do the a number of open studio events. Significantly its leading the gallery community to by the dissemination of knowledge and the fostering Affordable Art Fair and commissioning agency, Locus+ has recently announced articulate its powerbase and of a sense of community. also a significant amount of that it intends to represent the artists that it works with. demonstrate to government artists who are looking more Yet all this is still not enough to sustain a local market. agencies that contemporary Developing a bigger picture towards the Frieze Art Fair art is now a real economy London may dominate the UK market for challenging as their benchmark. But Amidst this rather gloomy view it has to be emphasised, that requires accurate contemporary art, but the fact that it is already a global there aren’t many galleries however, that a market for challenging contemporary measurement, policy market-place should not prevent measures being taken in Manchester who would art is an elusive thing. Looking beyond England to the and capitalisation.” to enhance its market status further. Additionally, the want to be in the Frieze Art much vaunted example of , where a dynamic

Andrew Wheatley, Co-Director, capital’s art market pre-eminence should not prevent Fair, the only ones I can think art school, several generations of in-situ artists, and a Cabinet Gallery, London, 2004 measures being taken to develop the market for of are the artist-run spaces. number of internationally-regarded public and artist-run challenging contemporary art throughout England. There are quite a few buyers, spaces have come together to give rise to the shoots but not many that I would of commercial activity, the market there is still relatively Some metropolitan centres such as Manchester, call serious collectors, but small. Glasgow’s two highly-regarded commercial Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol, Birmingham within greater Manchester galleries – Modern Institute and Sorcha Dallas – may be and Sheffield already have elements of an infrastructure. and Cheshire there are a able to survive on sales, but the local collector base is The problem is that each of these cities lack the full larger number of collectors still in its infancy with these establishments primarily complement of components – inspirational art schools, that are not being accessed relying on the sales that they make internationally. an established community of artists, pro-actively for more difficult work collecting public galleries, informed critics, committed because the only galleries Nonetheless, although the market for challenging collectors – all of which need to come together at that access them are doing contemporary art may be a notoriously difficult one the same time to encourage the establishment of more conservative work. to nurture there is still much that can be done to commercial galleries and to kick-start a viable market The way to develop that encourage new audiences and commercial activity for challenging contemporary art. In short, for a market would not be on a local level. In many regional centres, both rural commercial infrastructure to exist, there has to be a through creating supply and metropolitan, while there may be few sales critical mass of all the essential elements. but to develop demand, of challenging contemporary art, a more effective you need some way of infrastructure has developed for sales of art by living Manchester, for example, has a highly regarded fine getting people to understand artists. This ranges from existing commercial galleries art department in its university, and significant public that there is a very vibrant specialising in applied art and a range of art by living galleries as well as a range of artist-run spaces and art scene in Manchester artists, to open studio events, regional art fairs and curatorial initiatives. There is therefore enough of an and to take pride in this, like retail-style outlets. There is no reason why all these intellectual hub to retain a community of progressive they do when their football various activities cannot be encouraged to prosper in contemporary artists. There is also a pool of potential team does well.” their own right while at the same time initiatives made

collectors. But until there are sufficient supply outlets Nick Crowe, artist, 2004 to find ways for them to enter into fruitful partnerships 66 Developing the market

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“The last decade has seen with artists and outlets that specialise in more Conclusion: the market huge social and economic challenging work. While it is helpful to make distinctions shifts in the North East, between different kinds of art practice, this does not does matter along with an amazing mean to say that they are mutually exclusive: areas Examining the public sector’s involvement in the increase in awareness in of common ground need to be sought, and means “Complex cultural activity is not just a pleasurable development of this market for challenging contemporary contemporary art. This to be found for these distinct but also interrelated hinterland for the public. art is an intricate enterprise. For while there can be no has meant that there are constituencies to grow and develop in tandem. It is at the heart of what doubt of the historical and current immersion of the now real opportunities it means to be a fully- public sector in the mechanics and machinations of this for agencies like Locus+ Some regional centres are already developing broad- developed human being. market-place, there is also considerable anxiety from all to move into national based elements of a commercial infrastructure: Government should be quarters about the ways in which it is appropriate for artists’ representation as supporting open studio events and encouraging concerned that so few the public sector to intervene directly in its development. a strategic part of their commercial initiatives by hitherto non-profit spaces aspire to it and has a Overall, there seems to be a general consensus amongst regional activities. However, and organisations. However these various and often responsibility to do what artists, buyers and collectors that the public sector in only sustained investment ad-hoc activities all need to be corralled into a it reasonably can to raise general should be working with and enhancing in these opportunities will comprehensive and coordinated plan which combines the quantity and quality existing elements already operating within the current deliver an independent art artists, art schools, art colleges, regional galleries and of that aspiration.” contemporary art market rather than trying to intervene market outside of London.” museums, commercial galleries, artists’ studios and Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for directly in or run parallel with the commercial sector. Its Jon Bewley, Director, artist-run spaces. All these components have to be Culture, Media and Sport, 2004 role should be one of advocacy, assistance and education Locus+, Newcastle, 2004 developed simultaneously for an artistic, commercial rather than market intervention. and intellectual basis to evolve; while at the same time links should also be encouraged between these This supportive, enabling role is surely in keeping with elements and also with their counterparts in London the Arts Council’s recently re-stated emphasis on placing and other metropolitan centres. In each regional centre the individual artist at the centre of all its activities; 36 for this coordination has to be tailored according to if the art market is encouraged to expand and prosper specific local circumstances and needs. then this must be to the benefit of the artists who, after all, make the whole process possible.

It cannot be stated too strongly that the market for challenging contemporary art is quite unlike any other. Not only does this market have as its apotheosis the cultural and fiscal achievement of ‘museum class’; but to be a serious collector of contemporary art also requires an intellectual as well as a financial investment. In order to appreciate the most challenging of contemporary art, product knowledge per se is not enough. Collecting takes time, curiosity and, above all, intense commitment and these collectors have to be actively engaged and nurtured. 68 Developing the market

Page 37 Endnotes

1 John Evelyn, quoted in Buck, Louisa and Dodd, which art is filtered and legitimised in an 16 The so-called New British Sculptors of the 1980s Mach, Richard Wentworth and Alison Wilding Philip, Relative Values or What’s Art Worth?, otherwise unregulated sector’. ‘The contemporary still represented by Lisson are Tony Cragg, Richard were commissioned to create a work of art for BBC Books, 1991, p53 art market-place’ model segments the art market Deacon, Richard Wentworth and Anish Kapoor. the domestic environment, working with a cross- 2 Drew, Joanna and Lampert, Catherine, Hayward into four types of art or artist ‘along the axes of 17 Evaluation carried out for Frieze 2003 by Morris section of families. The resulting ‘multiples’ were Annual Exhibition Catalogue, Hayward Gallery desired destination for the work and degree of Hargreaves McIntyre and funded by Arts Council mass-produced and made available in Homebase Publishing, 1985 engagement in current critical debate’. England’s New Audiences Department, through stores nationally. 3 Johnstone, Isobel, Arts Council Collection 8 See Taste Buds Executive summary, October 2004 73 surveys with exhibitors (representing 60% 27 Arts Council England invested £20 million over Acquisitions 1989–2002, Hayward Gallery 9 In the 1980s Interim was publicly funded for response rate) and interviews with 307 attenders. five years in the New Audiences Programme, Publishing, 2003, p9 a short period of time; during City Racing’s 10- MHM will be conducting an extended evaluation which ran from 1998 to 2003. The programme 4 Re-framing arguments about art and artists year history (1988–1998) it received both revenue at Frieze 2004. was set up to encourage as many people as in economic terms draws on issues raised in and project funding from Arts Council England, 18 Keith Hayman quoted in Glinkowski, Paul, possible, from all backgrounds and every walk Morris Hargreaves McIntyre, Taste Buds: how London (see Hale, Matt, Noble Paul, Owen, Peter Open Studios: a gem worth polishing, Arts of life, to participate in and benefit from the to cultivate the art market, 2004 and specialist and Burgess, John, City Racing, the life and times Council England, 2003 arts. The full New Audiences Programme report advice from Sarah Thelwall and Andrew Wheatley. of an artist-run gallery, Black Dog Publishing 19 Other examples include Will’s Warehouse in is available to download at 5 Hewitt, Peter, Ambitions for the arts 2003–2006, Limited, 2002) London. See the supply section in Taste Buds www.artscouncil.org.uk/newaudiences Arts Council England, 2003 10 See Taste Buds Executive summary, October 2004. for further models of retail-style outlets. 28 See recommendations 13, 16, 19, 23, 24, 25 6 Morris Hargreaves McIntyre, Taste Buds: how to The largest part of this figure came from the 20 Morris Hargreaves McIntyre present a range of in Taste Buds. For the full list of 27 cultivate the art market, 2004. The research turnover of London galleries, which was information on buyers and potential buyers in recommendations see Taste Buds Executive ‘aimed to explore the extent to which individuals estimated at £268.8 million. This figure took the Taste Buds. The research examined: knowledge summary, October 2004 in England buy or have the propensity to buy total primary sales (to individuals, museums and of art, attitudes to risk, and distribution outlets. 29 See Taste Buds Executive summary, October 2004 contemporary art for their homes’. In order to institutions at home and abroad) of 100 London- Buyers’ motivations and barriers to buying art 30 Johnstone, Isobel, op cit, p10 examine this, the following research questions based contemporary art galleries. While this figure were explored and a detailed segmentation of 31 Goodison, Nicholas, The Goodison review: were included within the brief: a) how to enhance allowed for fees to artists, it did not include the buyers was presented. securing the best for museums: private giving http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:XCDyFveR7lgJ:www.artscouncil…df+Relative+Values+or+What’s+Art+Worth&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us Page 24 of 26 Market Matters 03/10/2007 11:02 AM

and increase sales of innovative, contemporary significant number of galleries that operate as 21 Taste Buds interviewed over 6,000 people for and government support, HMSO, 2004, p14 art and private collections through the diverse agents for their artists. It should also be noted the buyer section; 6,141 adults aged 16 and 32 Goodison, Nicholas, op cit range of distribution points, b) how to encourage that this total figure does not include the number over, living in England. An in-depth survey was 33 The Patrons of New Art was formed in 1982 by artists to become more entrepreneurial in their of galleries, both large and small that began carried out with 1,759 of these, 30 in-depth a group of individuals with a primary aim to assist engagement with the market-place, and c) how trading in London after Taste Buds’ research cut- interviews with known buyers, 4 focus groups Tate in its collecting of contemporary art. In 2004 to expand the audience, ie individual buyers, for off point of July 2003. with existing buyers and 4 with potential buyers the four patrons groups at Tate (including Patrons contemporary work through purchasing and 11 See Taste Buds Executive summary, October 2004 of contemporary art. of New Art) were streamlined to form one scheme, commissioning. The brief for Taste Buds did not 12 Morris, Lynda, Monopolis, a paper given at 22 See Taste Buds Executive summary, October 2004 the Tate Patrons, whose support is given to any include an examination of international markets Curating in the 21st century conference, The New 23 See Taste Buds Executive summary, October 2004 part of Tate’s collecting remit. Access to becoming or corporate buyers. Art Gallery Walsall, 8–9 June 2000 24 See Taste Buds Executive summary, October 2004 a patron is open to all, and costs £1,000 pa. 7 Morris Hargreaves McIntyre provide an analysis 13 Quoted on p22, London Cultural Capital: realising 25 Hewitt, Peter, op cit 34 Wheatley, Andrew, The Rationale and Implications of the structural concepts and principles the potential of a world class city, Greater London 26 At Home With Art, initiated by Colin Painter, was of the Establishment of the First UK Trade underpinning the sector in the context section Authority, June 2003, taken from The Case for a collaboration between Tate Britain, National Association of Contemporary Art Galleries and of Taste Buds, leading to the development of London, Arts Council England, London, 2000 Touring Exhibitions, Homebase, and Wimbledon Dealers, paper given at Arts Council England’s two models. ‘The art eco-system’ model illustrates 14 See Taste Buds Executive summary, October 2004 School of Art, funded by the Arts Council’s New Market Development Seminar, 29 March 2004 the players who determine an artist’s trajectory 15 White Cube artists include Damien Hirst, Marc Audiences Programme. Nine sculptors – Angela 35 See study of Swiss Art Market in Passages No 35, as they accrue ‘subscription’, a term Morris Quinn, and – from a slightly younger Bulloch, Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Antony Arts Council of Switzerland, 2004 Hargreaves McIntyre describe as ‘the process by generation – and . Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Permindar Kaur, David 36 Hewitt, Peter, op cit

Page 38 Quote sources

page 7 Letter in St James’s Chronicle, of Works, merchandising the 49 Marjorie Allthorpe-Guyton, 25 April 1761, quoted in Buck, intangible’, Passages No 35, interviewed by Louisa Buck, Louisa and Dodd, Philip, Relative Arts Council of Switzerland, July 2004 Values or What’s Art Worth?, 2004, pp8–11 50 Wallinger, Mark, Art for All? BBC Books, 1991, p53 24 Richard Hamilton, email exchange Their Policies and Our Culture, 8 Jenny Holzer, Money Creates with Louisa Buck, July 2004 Peer, 2000, p11 Taste, illuminated billboard, 25 Hale, Matt, Noble, Paul, Owen, 51 Richard Wentworth quoted in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, 1986 Pete, Burgess, John, City Racing, At Home With Art, exhibition 9 Hirst, Damien and Burn, Gordon, The Life and Times of an Artist- catalogue, Hayward Gallery On the Way to Work, Faber & Run Gallery 1988–98, Black Dog Publishing, 1999, p56 Faber, 2001, p154 Publishing Limited, 2002, p1 52 , email exchange 10 Bonus, Holgar and Ronte, Dieter, 26 Antony Gormley, email exchange with Louisa Buck, June 2004 ‘Credibility and Economic Value in with Louisa Buck, June 2004 53 Julia Peyton-Jones, interviewed the Visual Arts’, Journal of Cultural 28 René Gimpel, interviewed by Louisa Buck, July 2004 Economics 21, Kluwer Academic by Louisa Buck, July 2004 54 , interviewed Publishers, 1997, p109 29 Maureen Paley, email exchange by Louisa Buck, July 2004 12 Leon Golub, quoted in Buck, with Louisa Buck, June 2004 55 Maurice Davies, interviewed Louisa and Dodd, Philip, Relative 30 Victoria Miro, interviewed by Louisa Buck, July 2004 Values or What’s Art Worth?, by Louisa Buck, July 2004 56 Anthony Reynolds, interviewed BBC Books, 1991, p18 32 , interviewed by Louisa Buck, July 2004 13 Cathy de Monchaux, interviewed by Louisa Buck, April 2004 57 Andrew Nairne, in conversation by Louisa Buck, July 2004 33 Gill Hedley, interviewed by with Louisa Buck, August 2004 14 Hickey, Dave, Air Guitar: essays Louisa Buck, April 2004 58 David Barrie, interviewed on art and democracy, Art Issues. 35 Glinkowski, Paul, Open Studios: by Louisa Buck, July 2004 Press, 1997, p112 a gem worth polishing, Arts 62 Nick Dodd, interviewed 16 Morgan, Stuart, What the Butler Council England, 2003, p3 by Louisa Buck, July 2004 Saw: selected writings by Stuart 36 Niru Ratnam, interviewed 63 Jay Jopling, interviewed Morgan, Durian Publications, by Louisa Buck, July 2004 by Louisa Buck, June 2004 1996, p233 39 Thomas Hoving on The Midas 64 Jan Debbaut, interviewed 18 Stefan Ratibor, interviewed Touch, BBC2, 1990 by Louisa Buck, July 2004 by Louisa Buck, July 2004 40 Anita Zabludowicz, interviewed 65 Nicholas Logsdail, interviewed 20 Jane Simpson, interviewed by Louisa Buck, June 2004 by Louisa Buck, March 2004 by Louisa Buck, June 2004 42 Frank Cohen, interviewed 66 Andrew Wheatley, interviewed 21 O’Doherty, Brian, Inside the White by Louisa Buck, July 2004 by Louisa Buck, March 2004 Cube, the Ideology of the Gallery 43 Anna Somers-Cocks, interviewed 67 Nick Crowe, interviewed Space, The Lapis Press, 1976, p74 by Louisa Buck, July 2004 by Louisa Buck, June 2004 21 Morris, Lynda, Monopolis, a paper 44 Lord McAlpine on Art in 68 Jon Bewley, interviewed given at Curating in the 21st the Sixties, BBC4, 2004 by Louisa Buck, July 2004 century conference, The New Art 45 Richard Greer, interviewed 69 Tessa Jowell, ‘Government and Gallery Walsall, 8–9 June 2000 by Louisa Buck, June 2004 the value of culture’, quoted in 22 Tracey Emin, interviewed by 46 David Risley, interviewed The Art Newspaper, issue 148, Louisa Buck, May 2004 by Louisa Buck, July 2004 June 2004 22 Jeremy Deller, email exchange 47 Unidentified London buyer, with Louisa Buck, July 2004 quoted in Taste Buds, Morris 23 Heinich, Nathalie, ‘Transformation Hargreaves McIntyre, 2004

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