Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures and Tables
- Dedication
- Introduction
- 1 The Early Stages: From the Netherlands to Great Britain
- 2 The Commoditization of Theories of Art
- 3 The Painter as Homo Economicus
- 4 Critics and Auctions
- 5 The Evolution of Picture-Dealing
- 6 The Victorian Era
- 7 ‘Working the Oracle’: The Tools of the Trade
- 8 The Formation of a Nexus: A Story of Christie's
- 9 Commoditization and the Artist as Producer: Product Differentiation and the Domestication of Pictures
- 10 The End of the ‘Golden Age’
- 11 Postscript: A Perpetual Innovative Whirl
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
11 - Postscript: A Perpetual Innovative Whirl
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures and Tables
- Dedication
- Introduction
- 1 The Early Stages: From the Netherlands to Great Britain
- 2 The Commoditization of Theories of Art
- 3 The Painter as Homo Economicus
- 4 Critics and Auctions
- 5 The Evolution of Picture-Dealing
- 6 The Victorian Era
- 7 ‘Working the Oracle’: The Tools of the Trade
- 8 The Formation of a Nexus: A Story of Christie's
- 9 Commoditization and the Artist as Producer: Product Differentiation and the Domestication of Pictures
- 10 The End of the ‘Golden Age’
- 11 Postscript: A Perpetual Innovative Whirl
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Oh, the days which we sold pictures in
Are still to mem'ry dear.
Though they have vanished into space
For many a weary year.
We ne'er shall see their like again,
Nor prices get like those
With which the eager buyer would
Incontinently close.
Now feel we hardness of the times,
Our debts still daily grow;
Ah, the days which we sold pictures in,
A long time ago!
Henry Stacy Marks, Pen and Pencil SketchesUnlike Holman Hunt's bitter attack on the new art scene cited at the end of the preceding chapter, the painter Henry Stacy Marks (1829–98), in his typically humorous fashion, looked back and eulogized the heady days of the ‘Golden Age of Living Painters’. Indeed, an era had passed which had taken the production of painting to an unprecedented level. The confluence of the diverse interests of which the arts environment is composed and which lies at the root of the mid-Victorian boom was inherently unstable. This coming of age of the market for contemporary paintings brought artists, dealers, press and consumers together for a several-decade long celebration of art production and consumption. When the party was over, the guests left alone or in groups, but much richer for the experience. The now mature market continued to adapt, applying and refining the lessons of its youth. As it continued to expand with all its components now firmly in place, the exchange mechanism for art became more complex and diverse.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Development of the Art Market in EnglandMoney as Muse, 1730–1900, pp. 203 - 206Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014