The development of the art market in England: money as muse, 1730-1900

Abstract

This book gives a comprehensive account of the history and underlying economics of the modern art market in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century Britain. Bayer and Page argue that economics shaped and developed visual culture to the extent that we should no longer restrict market issues to narrative discussions of dealers' involvements in the careers of specific artists. Economic, econometric and statistical analyses of two specifically created, and particularly rich, data sets that record over 42,000 auction and dealer-based sales of paintings in London between 1720 and 1910 reveal hitherto unknown transaction patterns and trade modus operandi that offer unprecedented insight into the operations of the art market.