THE CONSTRUCTION OF ART VALUES

Abstract

This analysis of art values is focused on the specificity of the contemporary international art world, i.e., the increasing interdependence between the market where transactions are made and the cultural field where the homologation of art values is achieved. In support of this analysis, two cases are studied: the market of `art classé' and the market of paintings `by the dozen'. This paper is an attempt to link the sociology of social interactions to the economic concept of imperfect information.