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Firstly, it created a new middle class that had more expendable income which to spend n art. Secondly it generated pro-industrial revolution and anti-industrial revolution art movements. These changes increased the demand for art dealers, resulting in their specialization, and shaped the system of modern art dealership as it is today. In order to discuss the effects of the industrial revolution on the private dealer systems of art it is important to understand what the role of an art dealer is. According to Cooley (2009) an art dealer is someone who is the ‘middleman’ between artists and collectors or museums.
That is, the art dealer matches the interests of their client with the styles of the artists he/she presents and negotiates the handover of the art piece for a pre-determined fee. An art dealer also frequents auctions and exhibitions looking for exciting new art works representing new talent and thus potential new clients. Moreover, an art dealer is usually a ‘connoisseur’ of art with a good understanding of the aesthetics and philosophical principles embedded in an artwork (Liposuction, Louise 1983). Thus, an art dealer is in some ways similar to an art critic.
Furthermore, an art dealer is able to both inform collectors and artists about what is sellable – thus both parties profit from the knowledge an art dealer has (Hauser, Arnold 1999). Art dealers, as they are known in modern times, came into existence in the 1 5th and 16th centuries when apprentice painters, who were earning little, made money by practicing “arbitrage” which is when one buys works and resells them for a higher price to gain profit. The apprentice painters would sell their own works and also buy other upcoming artists’ works and sell them too (Hauser, Arnold, 1999).
The 18th century brought about a more scientific approach to art dealership. For example, Jonathan Richardson, owner of one f the finest drawing collections in London, developed the idea of the connoisseurship of art (Liposuction, Louise 1983). That is, he created a scoring system, from 0-20, to judge the salability Of an art piece based on its aesthetic properties and philosophical ideas. This made it easier for the general public who had little knowledge about art to understand whether a piece of art was considered “high art” and thus valuable.
This encouraged traffic in the art market and art began to be seen as a means of capital investment (Liposuction, Louise 1983). In 1 721 an act of parliament made the art market cheaper and easier for art dealers and the public alike. This transformed art dealership from the sideline of a poor apprentice into a lucrative trade and by the end of the 1 8th century the more unscrupulous art dealers often made close to 100% profit (Liposuction, Louise 1983). When the industrial revolution hit Europe in the 1 sass it influenced private dealer systems of art in two main ways.
The first is that it created a permanent “middle class” as the demand for labor increased which meant that previously lower class citizens were earning more money (Lane, Jim, 2009). This meant that people had more expendable income. Therefore, because art was seen as investment, a sign of wealth, many people in the middle class could buy art pieces to show their newfound wealth just as the higher classes did. This created a high demand for art dealers as trafficking of art increased and there was more art being produced.
Second, as there was proliferation of art, many new art movements came out of the industrial revolution which resulted in art dealers specializing in a particular form of art. The industrial revolution did this in two opposing ways. Some artist rebelled against the idea of the industrial revolution; they became ore individual, emotional and freedom painters and the movement Romanticism came about. Romanticism focused on emotion over reason, and on spontaneous expression. Examples of artists of the romantic period include Edmund Bureau, William Blake and Lord Byron (Swine, Imagine 2009).
Another art movement, which reflected dislike of the industrial revolution ideals, is Pre-Raphael Brotherhood, which is a group of English painters formed in 1848 (Stairs, Modesto 2009). These artists attempted to recapture the style of painting preceding Raphael. They rejected industrialized England and focused on painting from nature, producing detailed, colorful works (Stairs, Modesto 2009). This impacted on art dealers because they began to specialize in a particular art movement.
In addition, during the period between 1815 and 1870 art was mainly controlled by the Academic des Beaus Arts which managed visual culture, art schools and who was allowed to exhibit at The Salon, the most highly respected art gallery’ in Paris (Clark, TX 2009). People began to become increasingly frustrated about their work being rejected by the Salon and started to exhibit independently. Artists began to branch out more, to be more creative instead Of the normal practice Of copying the masters.
These innovators were known as the Avian-garden (Clark, TX 2009). Because of this the government of Napoleon the Third organized an exhibition in a room adjacent to The Salon, which was dubbed the ‘ Salon-Des-Refuses’. This also increased the number of different movements during the industrial revolution and thus influenced the specialization of art dealers as the artists began diversifying and as art dealers started to organism solo and group exhibitions of their own clients’ work.
In conclusion, the industrial revolution has shaped modern private art dealership systems by increasing the amount of art that is on the market cause of the greater demand for art as the new middle class was created. Thus increasing the need for art dealers. In addition, the industrial revolution diversified art movements in response to pro- or anti-industrial ideals, which resulted in the specialization of art dealers. As a consequence, there are approximately 29,200 art dealing institutions in the US (Suburbs, Martin 2003).