Where do Art Prices Come From?

Summary: A study of the ontology of art prices. Art specialists act as market intermediaries who do the important work of making prices know-able. This project consists of two pieces, a quantitative analysis of the relationship between auction estimates and final prices, and a qualitative analysis of interviews with art specialists, private art advisers, and appraisers associated with the Internal Revenue Service.

This project was, in its first iteration, the subject of a research seminar I taught at Barnard College. The members of that seminar were: Whitney Wilson, Jessica Katz, Jessica Blanco, Lena Kim, Cara Ciani-Nangle, Jane Cooper, Michelle Lu, Juliette Premmereur, Emily Luski, and Maria Baibakova. Thank you for your support, you were the most interesting class I’ve taught at Barnard.

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