Marketing contemporary visual art

Abstract

Purpose The paper seeks to focus on the management of art galleries in the context of contemporary visual art markets, viewed from the institutional and industrial network approaches. The aim is to understand the shaping of management practices. The characteristics of the visual art market, the immaterial value of products and the key role of relationships and networks, make the contemporary visual art market an insightful context to study the management practices. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research method was chosen – altogether 80 interviews were conducted in European markets. Findings The contemporary art market can be seen as a network structure consisting of actors who participate in creation and change of the practices. The management practices of galleries were created and changed by imitations and through isomorphic forces. It is proposed that major changes in management practices originate mainly from financial reasons, where the driving force is to survive economically. The striking similarity of gallery management practices was interesting. The shared practices are used as means to create stability for the market. Practical implications A gallery manager should reflect the implicit norms and values of the art field in their art gallery management. The knowledge of these management practices is of importance especially for new galleries entering the market. Originality/value The theoretical contribution of the study builds on elaboration of the practices concept by combining aspects of the institutional approach and the industrial networks approach.

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