economic lives of artists de economie van het kunstenaarschap

194 Pages·2002·4.84 MB·English

by  M. Rengers

ECONOMIC LIVES OF ARTISTS

STUDIES INTO CAREERS AND THE LABOUR MARKET IN THE CULTURAL SECTOR

DE ECONOMIE VAN HET KUNSTENAARSCHAP

EEN STUDIE NAAR CARRIÈRES EN DE ARBEIDSMARKT IN DE CULTURELE SECTOR

(MET EEN SAMENVATTING IN HET NEDERLANDS)

Proefschrift

ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor
aan de Universiteit Utrecht
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus
Prof. dr. W. H. Gispen
ingevolge het besluit van het College voor Promoties
in het openbaar te verdedigen op
dinsdag 11 juni 2002 des ochtends te 10.30 uur

door
Merijn Rengers
geboren 30 juni 1973, te Amsterdam
Promotoren: Prof. dr. H.B.G. Ganzeboom (Universiteit Utrecht)
Prof. dr. J.J. Siegers (Universiteit Utrecht)

ISBN: 9051706081
“We rightly admire the celebrated artists of the past who created great work, knowing their
prize would be a happy life and a generous reward. How much more, then, should we praise
and exalt those rare men of genius who create priceless work and who live not merely
unrewarded but in circumstances of wretched poverty! It is undeniably true that if the artists
of our own time were justly rewarded they would produce even greater works of art, far
superior to those of the ancient world. Instead, the artist today struggles to ward off famine
rather than to win fame, and this crushes and buries his talent and obscures his name.”

(Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, 1568)

“Who am I?
I am a poet.
What do I do here? I Write.
And how do I live? I live
in my contented poverty,
as if a grand lord, I squander
odes and hymns of love.
In my dreams and reveries,
I build castles in the air,
where in spirit I am a millionaire.”

(Giacomo Puccini, La Bohème, 1895)
Contents

1 The Economic Lives of Artists: Past and Current Issues 1

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Theoretical Background: the Early Days 3
Work-preference and Multiple Job-holding: Adam Smith 5
Winner-take-all: Alfred Marshall 8
1.3 Theoretical Background: Recent Developments 11
Work-preference 11
Winner-take-all 13
1.4 Research Questions and Outline of the Thesis 14
The Chapters in Detail 15
Relationships between the Chapters 18
Apendix 20

2 Living Art: Artists between Making Art and Making a Living 27

2.1 Introduction 27
Compensating Differentials and Psychic Income 28
The Contribution of Economics 29
2.2 The Theoretical Model 30
Multiple Job-holding 31
Work-preference Model 32
Creators and Performers 34
2.3 The Empirical Model 36
2.4 The Data 38
2.5 Analysis 39
Earnings Functions 39
Labour Supply 43
2.6 Theoretical and Research Implications 45
3 The Careers of Graduate Artists in the Netherlands. Do Relative 49
Differences Matter?

3.1 Introduction 49
Concepts and Definitions 51
3.2 How to Explain Careers in the Cultural Field? 53
Human Capital Theory and Career Progress 53
Models of Relative Competition 54
The Rlation between Financial and Artistic Success 56
3.3 Hypotheses 57
Inequality 57
Dropout Earning Penalty 57
Social Background 58
Career Characteristics 58
School and Study Characteristics 59
How these Hypotheses are Tested 60
3.4 Data and Description 61
Description of the Data 62
Work Characteristics 64
3.5 Results 66
Statistical Model 66
Labour Market Entrance 66
Wage at the First Wave 67
Wage at the Second Wave 68
Artistic Achievements 69
The Hypotheses 70
3.6 Discusion 73

4 Private or Public? How Dutch Visual Artists Choose between 77
Working for the Market and the Government

4.1 Introduction 78
4.2 The Dutch Market for Visual Art and the Impact of the Government 79
Visual Art Policy 79
Size and Structure of the Market 80
4.3 Decomposition of the Artists’ Earnings 82
Multiple Job-holding 82
Earnings from Private versus Public Sources 83
Applying the Model 84
4.4 The Model 85
4.5 Data and Description 87
4.6 Results 89
4.7 Conclusion 92
Appendix to Chapter 4: The Likelihood 93

5 Decent Exposure; Exhibition Careers of Dutch visual Artists 97

5.1 Introduction 97
5.2 Theoretical Background 99
Winner-takes-all and Work-preference 99
Career Predictions 100
Segments 101
5.3 Data and Description 102
Data 102
Description of Circuits over the Entire Period 104
Description of Circuits Year by Year 105
5.4 Analysis of Exhibition Careers 107
Results 108
5.5 Conclusion, Discussion 112

6 Determinants of Prices for Contemporary Art in Dutch Galleries, 115
1992-1998

6.1 Introduction 115
6.2 Earlier Studies 117
6.3 Description of the Data 118
Works of Art 119
Artists 120
Galleries 122
6.4 Supply And Demand On The Primary Market For Visual Art 123
Works of Art 123
Artists 124
Galleries 125
6.5 The Advantages of Multilevel Analysis 125

6.6 Analysis 129
Determinants on the Level of Works of Art 129
Determinants on the Level of Artists 131
Determinants on the Level of Galleries 133
The Random-effects Model 133
Explained Variance 134
6.7 Conclusion 135

7 The Economic Lives of Artists: Conclusion and Discussion 139

7.1 Introduction 139
7.2 Findings from the Chapters 140
7.3 Careers of Artists 141
The Early Career 141
Labour Market Entrance 142
The Careers of Visual Artists in the Cultural Sector 142
Reward Systems 143
7.4 Interpreting Career Diferences 144
Experience 144
Grants 145
(Arts) Education 146
Place of Residence 147
Gender 147
7.5 The Theories 149
The Bohemian Artist 149
Evaluating Work-preference Theory 149
Evaluating Winner-take-all Theory 150
7.6 Some Recommendations for Research and Policy 151
Empirical Analyses 151
Policy-implications 152
Avenues for Further Research 153

Summary in Dutch 155
References 165
CV and Acknowledgements 175
ICS Dissertation Series 177