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“The Master of …”: creating names for art history and the art market

Author

Listed:
  • Kim Oosterlinck

    (Université libre de Bruxelles)

  • Anne-Sophie Radermecker

    (Université libre de Bruxelles)

Abstract

The value of a painting is influenced above all by the artist who created it and his reputation. Painters nowadays are easy to identify and are used to signing their artworks. But what about those whose names have not survived the test of time? This paper contributes to the understanding of art valuation and art brands on the auction market. It focuses on a particular subset of anonymous artists labelled with so-called provisional names (“Master of …”). After considering the origins and reception of the practice of creating names for unrecorded artists, we empirically investigate the market behaviour of this niche segment. Based on comparative price indexes and hedonic regressions, we show that masters with provisional names have not only become autonomous brand names that are highly valued by the art market; they also outperformed named artists between 1955 and 2015. In the second phase, we analyse the provisional-name linked elements valued by the market. We find that art market participants pay attention to the creator of the provisional name, its long-term recognition and market visibility, and the typology of the names.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim Oosterlinck & Anne-Sophie Radermecker, 2019. "“The Master of …”: creating names for art history and the art market," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(1), pages 57-95, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jculte:v:43:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10824-018-9329-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10824-018-9329-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Angelini & Massimiliano Castellani, 2019. "Cultural and economic value: a critical review," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(2), pages 173-188, June.
    2. Anne-Sophie V. E. Radermecker, 2019. "Artworks without names: an insight into the market for anonymous paintings," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(3), pages 443-483, September.
    3. Alessia Crotta & Filip Vermeylen, 2020. "Does nudity sell? An econometric analysis of the value of female nudity in Modigliani portraits," ACEI Working Paper Series AWP-02-2020, Association for Cultural Economics International, revised Dec 2020.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Market for Old Master paintings; Masters with provisional names; Market value; Brand names; Price indexes; Hedonic pricing model; Valuing process;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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