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