Circulation and the Art Market

Abstract

Circulation is an exciting prism through which to conduct research into the art market. It invites us to think in terms of flows and exchanges rather than in terms of stock, prices, and quantities sold or bought. It leads towards an examination of the channels and networks that make up the art market, rather than simply to questions of production and sales. It encourages us to base our reasoning on circuits and mobility, rather than on marketplaces and the balance of supply and demand. From a theoretical point of view, circulation adds a welcome complexity to an approach – art market studies - that sometimes risks slipping into a simplistic economic study dealing superficially in prices, stocks, galleries, dealers, and fluctuations in value. A circulatory methodology challenges art market studies as a discipline to go beyond the conventional tools of economic analysis and a delocalized, or even utopian, application of quantitative reasoning.

Keywords

• Transnational studies
• Global markets
• Global art history