Last update: 12-12-2019
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2. The Triumph of Serious ArT (Notes 1 – 60)
3. Authentic Art and Artists (notes 1 – 59)
Preface
Section (3)
General remarks of section 3:
(3)a. Having not the required skin-color or sex, can also be a form of being wrongly resourced. “Natural” boundaries are involved which accompanied symbolic and social boundaries.
(3)b. It is more common to use the terms underprivileged or disadvantaged people and groups or the disadvantaged, but, depending on the context, the use of “under-resourced” can be often more adequate.
(3)c. Groups of people are involved in so-called boundary work: they establish, maintain and move social boundaries. Boundaries in art can shift. After much effort by some and resistance by others, part of Jazz became art; the boundary around real art has been moved.
(3)d. Barriers can be formal and informal. A price being asked for entering a theatre is a formal barrier, and so is demanding that one is white and not black, at a time when this was not yet illegal. Excluding someone by making him feel uncomfortable, is raising an informal barrier. The person is informally excluded. In the first case economists also speak of a price barrier and price exclusion. Moreover, in the case of starting a company in a certain sector of production, economists may also use the term barrier of entrance. A painter cannot participate in a market for paintings without first having acquired, paint, canvas, a studio and so forth.
(3)e. When describing, explaining or defining concepts, we draw lines around what a concept refers to: “This is it and this is not it.” Sometimes my lines roughly correspond with the symbolic boundaries many people have in mind. For instance, I think that my definition of popular art corresponds with the notion of popular art of many people. However, some of the concepts and the terms which I use are own inventions, like the concept inferior-art. In others I follow the common use in the social sciences, while sometimes deviating a little, as in my use of the term art-world.
Web-notes
/1. I removed this note an included it in the web-note above.
/2. Many prestigious art-buildings have been established in the early and main period of serious art by groups of art loving higher bourgeois, usually with the help of, or under supervision of local governments. Over the last decades more have been added [6].
/3. Data exist on the number of people visiting performances of a specific artform and visiting museums, but this data cannot be combined enabling to tell how often a specific individual participates in all art-buildings. Another problem is that, as said, no relevant art-buildings exist for live literature and for film.
/4. Most sculpture in public space could also have been present in art-buildings. But sometimes sculptures are too large, or artists resist that their sculptures, including installations, and art performances are present in museums and sculpture gardens. But in all cases documentation on the works is or could be present in a museum.
/5. For various reasons I do not use the terms fine art, high art, high-brow art, middle brow art, low-brow art, canonized art and legitimate art and legitimized art, and their counterparts. It is unusual to count the serious parts of literature, film and jazz fine art. For younger readers the terms high art and high-brow art have a negative connation, or they may believe that they are things of the past. The term canonized art, suggests that there still is no canonized art in popular art, which is incorrect. The term legitimate has an unwanted juridical connotation.
/6. What is called a style in one artform is called a genre in another, and vice versa. I use the terms alternately, be it most often the term genre. An art genre refers to a certain type of art with a distinctive type of production, distribution, and meanings. When the term applies to a large selection of works, smaller sub-sets can be called sub-genres. An art-stream —not to be confused with mainstream— refers to a family of genres or styles that over decades retain their coherence through shared institutions, artistic convictions and audiences. The artistic convictions (or aesthetics) that bind the family of styles together can be said to form a shared grammar or paradigm that is comparable with that in the sciences.
Aside: Unlike in this text, in their analysis of developments in popular music (Lena & Peterson, 2008) and (Lena, 2014) distinguish genres and styles. A genre is a system of orientations, expectations, and conventions that bind together artists, supporters, supplementary producers, critics and fan-consumers in making what they identify as a distinctive sort of art, while an art style is a certain artistic idiom that is present in single works, a group of related works, in the works of an art genre and in the works an art-stream.
/7. The main difference is that given my definition a smaller collection of artworks is at stake. It is true (or legitimatized) art, i.e. art that can be present in art-buildings. Moreover, for (Becker, 1982) an art world consists of the group of persons whose activities are necessary to the production of the characteristic works which that world defines as art. His art world therefore consists of people who make paint, do the theatre lightning and so forth, that is also people who have no say or an ignorable say in the definition of serious art.
/8. The way (Danto, 1964) uses the term artworld differs more. (Bourdieu, 1984) uses the term art field which corresponds more with my term art-world than Becker’s art world, but without being altogether the same.
/9. In this text I focus on the symbolic boundary, which art-world people establish and maintain, between on the one hand art (or serious art) and on the other popular/inferior art. Art-worlds also establish a symbolic boundary between the kind of art that belongs to the own art-world and art that belongs to another art-world. Such boundaries can change or be contested. Or sub-art-worlds emerge. For instance, in the course of the 20th century within the art-world of dance two sub-art-worlds develop, which define two categories of art: one ballet and the other modern- and contemporary-dance.
Aside: People also have a symbolic boundary in mind around all art or art-in-a-broad-sense. Opinions differ and lines can change. For instance, at the moment for some groups all action movies are art-in-a-broad-sense, while for others none are.
The Triumph of Serious Art
General remarks of Chapter 2: So far none.
A High Respect for Art
General remarks related to sub-chapter A High Respect of Art.
So far none.
Section (4)
General remarks section 4.
So far none.
Web-notes
/1. In Latin artem (nominative ars) means “practical skill”, “a business”, “a craft”, and in 13century French “skill as a result of learning or practice".
/2. The art ethos can be said to be part of what (Boltanski & Thévenot, 1991) in their theory of justification call the inspired world. The notion of the art ethos makes it possible to explain phenomena that economists find hard to explain. Instead of an art ethos I could have chosen the notion of an art ideology, art culture, art logic or a habitus in the field of art production.
The last I did not choose because it is foremost used in the context of the field theory of Bourdieu, which I do not primarily apply in this text. My ethos is not tied to this theory.
I also did not choose an art ideology, because I do not only want to examine the overall typical moral view of people but also the motivational aspect.
An art culture could have been a reasonable alternative but it is too wide —it also refers to attitudes that do not fall under the term ethos. It, moreover, is usually applied to smaller collectives —as in the culture which exists among realist painters.
Finally, the term art logic as used in in institutional sociology, is on the one hand less encompassing, while on the other hand, the norms can be too instrumental. Cf. (Thornton & W.Ocasio, 2008). In other chapters I may however implicitly or explicitly refer to cultures —like the culture among the visitors in a concert hall— and logics —like the commercial logic of cultural entrepreneurs.
/3. They are shared and reproduced in little noticed way. Some of them are related to stereotypical myths. Values can conflict. For instance, the value that exclusivity in art has goodness, easily conflicts with another widely shared value: the value that art has goodness for everybody and therefore must be disseminated among lower social groups. Conflicting values, however, do not imply that the values, the moral convictions and the overall art ethos are incoherent and irrational. The ethos has its own logic and is neither rational nor irrational. (Contradictions also do not prove the often-proclaimed irrationalism of artists.)
Section (5)
General remarks
(5)a. This is the mentioned painting by Courbet:
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Courbet_010.jpg#file
Web-notes section 5:
/4 The timing differs: for instance, the status of the visual arts started to rise earlier than that of music.
/5. According to (Heinich, 2005) 119 (in French) in the case of some artists an exceptional life or dedication added to the value attached to their works, but she emphasizes that these artists were not representative.
/6. The term genius is related to the Latin verb gigno (genuit), meaning "to bring into being, create, produce”.
/7. The imagined family of art is not unique. A general social mechanism is at stake: members of real or imagined groups with one or more “sacred objects” always draw lines and de facto or deliberately exclude others. Cf. (Collins, 2005). This not only applies to the family of art. It, for instance, also applies to a scientific community of micro-biologists or, more relevant in the present context a community of Rock music fans. — What is special in the case of the arts is (1) that the imagined group is very large, that (2) the symbolic boundary has existed for more than a century and (3) that almost everybody in society is aware of it. Moreover, (4) during the period of serious art, and in a lesser degree up to the present-day, feelings of superiority are relatively strong and little questioned. What is also remarkable is (5) that during this period art the social boundary persistently follows the lines between social classes.
By itself the latter is not that special: a social boundary along similar lines exists in popular art, but it is less strong, shifts more often and is often foremost tight to specific venues and not to other venues. But, for instance, in the case of classical/serious music concert 150 years ago lower-class people did not feel welcome in the concert halls —all halls— the same as 50 years ago, while since little has changed.
Finally, as we shall see [*], within the large family-of-art many smaller families exist. There are important hierarchies.
Aside: The family is an imagined group as are the group of outsiders. But they can also be a sub-family which encounters in person, like the people visiting a specific art-building, and people, who are shown not to be welcome. In such situations a “being among one’s own group” is also a “sacred object”. Others would spoil the fun.
Section (6)
General remarks
So far none.
Web-notes
/8. There are always exceptions. Long before the art period the Estherházy princes built a magnificent —but not free standing— concert hall in which later on Haydn regularly performed his work.
/9. Dutch examples of modest buildings are the visual art buildings Witte de With in Rotterdam and De Apple in Amsterdam. Both are specialized in serious postmodern visual art. A Dutch example of an impressive building but solid and serious rather than pompous building is the Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam.
Section (7)
General remarks
So far none.
Web-notes
/10. Anna’s experiences with people with little education cannot prove a general existence of respect for art but they certainly do not contradict it. Ever since she was twelve, she regularly lived among and worked the fields together with common farm workers in the Netherlands and England. Again and again, she was struck by the admiration they had for art and artists. This only became stronger after having become an artist herself. Just telling that she was artist, she was treated by common as well as lower middle-class people with an attention and respect that no teacher or dentist would receive. It also happened more than once that Anna in a party in higher-class circles, after entering, was introduced by the host telling that she was artist. When introducing others, he just mentioned their name.
/11. For a long time, many painters wore berets. And until recently almost all artists dressed in a style which resembles that of the bohemian artist of old —and some still do. That being artist brings status shows from the phenomenon that others have started using their symbols of being artist, be it less convincingly. Now some degree of “bohemianism” and corresponding informal clothing has for many educated people become part of their lifestyle. Not accidentally people within one such bourgeois group are called bobos; short for bourgeois and bohemian.
/12. Because direct subsidization had always been generous in the Netherlands, the cuts drew much attention in international media. Less well known is that also after the cuts the Netherlands continued to be relatively generous; certainly, compared with the US and the southern European countries.
/13. A few years later the former director of the prestigious Rijksmuseum, Wim Pijbes, casually told the press that he had never been in the just as prestigious next-door Concertgebouw. Maybe because he did not present a threat, nobody took notice. This, moreover, suggests that unlike before unity within the family of art is no longer a precious good [17].
Second, because direct subsidization had always been generous in the Netherlands, the cuts drew much attention in international media. Less well known is that also after the cuts the Netherlands continued to be relatively generous; certainly, compared with the US and the southern European countries.
/14. According to an estimate of 3 March 2015 its construction will probably have cost the city more than €600m and maybe more —anyway far more than the original €77m projection.
/15. In 2005 in my inaugural lecture —(Abbing, 2006) in English— and in 2009 in a book —(Abbing, 2009) in Dutch— I examined the consumption practices in serious-music performances. I pointed to the graying of audiences, and I pleaded for parallel series of more informal serious music concerts. All reviews, in both right and left journals, were very negative and sometimes vehement. Evidently, I deserved to be punished because in my texts I had “pretended” to be an art-lover and lover of serious music, while I evidently was not. The title of a review in a leftist journal was “A stranger in the world of art”. According to the critic I clearly did not belong to this world. —Note that according to him I did not belong to the overall world of art (even though I was and am a visual artist), and not just did not belong to the world of serious-music. His and the other criticism hurt. But maybe it was worth it. The book was not ignored as earlier would have happened. in hindsight I think I contributed a little to the subsequent developments. (This happened in the 2000s, a time in which, due to fewer visitors and cuts, the conservative serious-music establishment was hyper sensitive. I don’t think the same would happen now.) (I refer to the review by Cyrille Offermans in De Groene of June 2009.)
Separation of Art and Entertainment
General remarks of sub-chapter Separation of Art and Entertainment:
So far none.
Section (8)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes
/16. The line between luxury and non-luxury is not sharp and depends on time and place. For instance, being in a church people casually or deliberately consume art that is free. Visits to churches took and take time, but for believers visits are a necessity and no luxury. Consumption does not require additional time and money. In past and present people are regularly in similar situations. For instance, in modern cities people all the time come across free art which they ignore or casually consume [*].
/17. The average person consumed for circa three dollars daily, while at present in industrialized countries like France and Japan it is more than 100 dollars a day, that is, circa thirty times as much as in 1800. The figures are expressed in modern-day, American prices, corrected for the cost of living. (McCloskey, 2010).
Section (9)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes
/18. At the moment many different and commonly used definitions of popular culture exist. To prevent confusion, I will seldom use the term. According to one dictionary popular culture is culture based on the tastes of ordinary people rather than an educated elite. But Wikipedia’s definition is: popular culture is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of the practices, beliefs and objects that are dominant or ubiquitous in a society at a given point in time. Popular culture also encompasses the activities and feelings produced as a result of interaction with these dominant objects.
/19. Speaking of music in general, i.e. also in low-class situations, William Weber writes: “It penetrated the most widely and deeply into people's daily lives. It loomed large in the rites and pleasures of the court, the tavern, the fair, and the home; people danced, drank, and courted to it. The rise of public opera and concerts in the seventeenth century simply put such pursuits on a grander scale. Musical events helped people meet and talk as well as listen; indeed, the opera was a meeting ground for genteel prostitution and opera life was imbued with sexual overtones. Moreover, musical life carried over into the home, most important of all into the salons where people consorted with each other to a musical backdrop.”
/20. Only religious chants and hymns were persistent, the same as some folk songs, verse and medieval morality plays, but all these were perceived as customary. They were part of social customs. Sometimes religious music was termed amusement. (W. Weber, 1984) 191.
/21. Due to visual art’s physical durability and the possibility of private ownership, part of visual art was probably bought with also future usability in mind. But unlike in the performing arts the group of consumers of the more expensive works by well-known living and dead artists was small. Moreover, as shows from the records of dealers, up to **half way the 19th century the number of contemporary works sold in the top of the art market and their overall financial value was larger than of old work, a phenomenon that is recurring in the aftermath of the period of serious art. (Sales records of the very important dealer Paul Rurand-Duel show that in the middle of the 19th century the sale of contemporary-art works is still larger than that of older works. This changes in the late 19th and early 20th century when the majority are old works. (Zarobell, 2015)
/22. Not that long-ago Anna was present in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on an evening that only contemporary-music was played. Following the instructions of the composer, a tenor sang in a comical fashion. The audience was noticeable uncomfortable; and when Anna’s partner laughed aloud, people looked angrily at him. At the same time the tenor was also noticeably disappointed because the audience did not respond to his efforts.
Section (10)
General remarks.
(10)a. In the context of the insulation of serious art the use of the term purification makes sense. The term is used by (Accominotti, Khan, & Storer, 2018) in their description of the process of music becoming serious in the case of the New York Philharmonic.
Web-notes section 10
/23. When, for instance, a prince invited his guests to have a look at a special painting or sculpture in his palace, the paintings were not just stage props. Or when a prince or merchant and his family or guests came together to listen to a piece of music, it was more than just background music. The latter certainly has been the case after princes, like the Esterházys, had special concert halls built on their premises, in which composers, like Haydn (1732-1809), would perform their pieces in front of an audience that had gathered with the purpose of listening to music. And in the Elizabethan theaters (around 1600) such modes of production and consumption use had already arisen earlier —even though attention was almost certainly not undivided. Nevertheless, all such events remained foremost entertainment events rather than art events. They are not as serious as the organized art events in the period of serious art.
/24. There are also other less important messages. For instance, audiences can be assured that the opulence in the halls of the nonprofit venues only expresses respect for serious art and is not supposed to serve the making of profit by attracting only the very rich. In spite of the overall opulence in the non-profit opera venues, there is no special and conspicuous seating for the very wealthy as at the time is common in the for-profit venues.
/25. (Dimaggio, 1982) p. 381 mentions and discusses five distinct characteristics of the typical late 19th century non-profits. Dimaggio also shows that different economic and social factors have an effect on the timing and actual establishment of non-profits in the various art forms —music, theatre, dance and visual art.
Section (11)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes
/26. For-profit businesses are privately owned and often have shareholders. They can freely distribute earnings to private owners or shareholders and employees. Nonprofits do not have private owners and pay no income tax on the donations and subsidies they receive. To be a nonprofit the organization must be recognized as such by the government. Most nonprofits are managed by boards; some by voting members. For-profits pursue income (or earnings) and profit. Nonprofits only pursue income and sometimes do so fanatically [*]. In this respect the difference between non- and for-profits is a matter of degree. Most creative artists are for-profits. In their case usually the term income is used instead of profit, while according to the law they make profit.
Both nonprofits and for-profits tend to generate income or profit to be able to continue the organization. Moreover, some for-profits have a mission that is broader than generating profit for the sake of profit. Usually commercialism is less strong in nonprofits than in for profits, but this as well is a matter of degree.
/27. Both in the US and Europe non-profit public art museums are established in the first half of the nineteenth century. Most art museums are nonprofits from the start. Foremost nationalistic and educational considerations induce local and national elites and governments to finance the museums. Admission is often free.
Section (12)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes
/28. According to (A. Klamer, 2016) a moral value or just value is “something” that is important for a person or group, and that they want to realize. It implies the existence of a moral conviction: the “something” is good, it has goodness. (In the case of a group the “something” can well be a sacred object [*s. high status].) Moral values cannot be measured, but they can be realized. Values are “realized” while using “things”. For a person the experiencing of an artwork is a means to attain something good. Depending on the questions asked various different kinds of moral values can be distinguished. Among cultural economists it is now common to distinguish cultural and economic values. The pursuit of the one can go at the cost of the other. The use of a thing, —including activities and people— is instrumental and a means for the “realization” of something good.
Cultural economist use different definitions of value and distinguish different kinds of values. (Throsby, 2002) and other economists —cf. (Hütter & Throsby, 2008)— oppose cultural value(s) to economic values. For a sociologist this is confusing. I derive my definition from (A. Klamer, 2016), who has introduced a, what he calls The value-based approach to cultural economics. Klamer’s approach is part of what (Dekker, 2015) calls a valuation approach. Arjo Klamer also refers to artistic values, which are part of his domain of cultural values. For him artistic values are based on the qualities of beauty, the sublime. experimental and shocking. Aside: (A. Klamer, 2016) thinks in terms of a moral value that is important for people and that can be realized. He ignores that thinking in terms of realization, i.e. the realization of a moral value, implies a dichotomy, even if the realization is no matter of degree. The value is realized or not, implying a measurement on a scale with two measured values.
Next to moral values measured values exist. They are mere numbers on a scale, like degrees Celsius or numbers of dollars or people. The two kinds of values are, however, sometimes related: certain measured values can give an indication of the realization of certain social values. For instance, if thousand instead of the expected hundred people show up at the opening of an exhibition, it is likely that the measured value of the number of visitors gives an indication of the importance of the exhibition for visitors. (The distinction between the two kinds of values is less absolute than they appear./)
Aside: If one is well-aware of the distinction between values, i.e. not-measured values versus measured values, the nature of the term value (without adjective) usually shows from the context. It, nevertheless, is important to pay attention to a possible difference —also in my text.
Financial value (or exchange value or market value) is a measured value and as such a number. (The unit of measurement is one or another currency.) Being a mere number the financial value of something is not good nor bad, not important nor unimportant.
Economic value sometimes refers to financial value, but usually —and also in this text— it refer to certain values or moral convictions people adhere to which are related to an efficient governance as well as trade. They tend to be instrumental. An example of an economic value could be that payment which is related to a person’s output is good. Various economic values are shared in various circles, from those of bankers to managers of nonprofits. It is likely that over the last two decades more professionals, from civil servants to artists, adhere more than before to economic values.
Artistic value (or aesthetic value) can be a measured value as well as a moral value./1 For instance, art experts and critics may say that one artwork has more artistic value than another [*]. (They do not say that the one is morally better than the other.) But when people believe and argue that artworks have a universal artistic core, i.e. an art-presence within an object or activity, they usually have an artistic value or goodness of artworks in mind which is based on an artistic quality that is intrinsic and enduring, and thus immortal or of all time. This is an essentialist notion of art.
/29. It is confusing that when people talk about the core, they appear to combine a moral value and a measured value. They may for instance say “the artistic value of this work is higher than of that work”.
/30. The essentialist view also promotes the belief that anything that is present or goes on in the surrounding of the actual object or performance, i.e. its setting, has nothing to do with the artwork. The setting has no impact on its artistic importance or does not matter for a work being art or not. But as I explain in section *, this is incorrect.
Art-Worlds with Authority
General remarks of sub-chapter Art-Worlds with Authority.
So far none.
Section (13)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes
/31. From the 13th century onwards guilds governed the production, including training and sales, of what we now call visual art and applied visual art. The governance was formal. On the one hand governments granted privileges, permissions and patents and sometimes also limited the kind of, what we call, art which could and could not be produced. Governments enabled the guilds to monopolize production. Non-members were prohibited from producing visual art; there was a system of “professional disqualification” (a “berufsverbot”). An indirect “control of numbers” of artists exists. Guilds also set formal rules which their members had to follow. The members together decided on the rules regarding actual production, sales and training. They regulated the training of apprentices or pupils in the workshops and studios of artists. But given the shared nature of their training and another “spirit of the time” most artists did not care much about their, de facto, limited artistic autonomy.
In the 16th and 17th century artists guilds mainly controlled training and sales leaving artists more formal freedom with respect to artistic choices. Nevertheless, depending on the country various forms of formal and informal control continued. This showed when visual art academies started to replace the guilds. At the time education became recognized, centralized and controlled by academies. Clear quality standards existed and were taught, standards that de facto limited the kinds of art that artists could produce. Even when there was no system of “professional disqualification” (or “berufsverbot”) artists had little negative liberty or autonomy [*].
Royal Academies received a royal charter and so could monopolize art provision in an entire country. For instance, in France the Académie de Peinture et Sculpture controlled the training of young artists through the Ecole des Beaux-arts, and it controlled the launching of artists’ careers by awarding prizes and medals which made the artists eligible for government purchases of their works. Moreover, the Parisian Academy organized official annual or bi-annual Salons in which artists could present their work. The jury largely consisted of members of the Academy who consequently controlled the access to the dominant outlet of French visual artists. (Arora & Vermeylen, 2013) 205. Supply as well as number of artists was indirectly controlled.
Although in the performing arts there always has been censorship, no guilds of any importance existed. Most often local and central governments straightforwardly issued privileges and permissions to ensembles and later to academies. In the time of the performing art academies (or conservatoires) a similar set up as in the visual arts exists. The same as in the visual arts they academies in both visual art and performance art had a state monopoly. It was a monopoly on artist education, commissions, titles, prizes, pensions, and certain performances. While organizing education many performing art academies represent not several but only one important ensemble which has a sole monopoly in a region or country. A French example is that of the Académie Royale de Musique —also called the Académie d’Opéra and later just l’Opéra. With or without an official professional ban the academies much affected the (im)possibilities of performing artists as well as creative artists: playwrights, composers and choreographers. The relationship between academies and local and central governments was not only a matter of official privileges and permissions: some were state-owned and there anyway were informal ties and overlaps between government and academy “officials”. This led to an attunement of preferences.
In the publishing industry, which printed literature/poetry, scores and scripts, similar guilds as in the visual arts had existed, but they collapsed and were abolished much earlier. Instead publishers were granted not only privileges and permissions but also patents by a higher authority. Especially a Royal charter could give a guild, which sometimes controlled a whole country, much power. For instance, in England, printing was limited to London, York, and the two university towns of Oxford and Cambridge. The number of printers and the size of their shops was regulated. The main objective was to prevent the distribution of libel, foremost in newspapers but also in books. Therefore, the expressive autonomous art space [*] of writers and playwrights —and in a lesser degree also of composers— was indirectly limited. There was also straightforward censorship by the authorities, which reduced the negative liberty and thus autonomous space of (some) artists. Certain kinds of work could not be published.
/32. With the abolishment in 1695 of the Licensing Act, England was ahead of the continental European countries and the US.
/33. The Salon des Refusés was also supported. It was supported by Napoleon.
/34. First, speaking of unmet or unsated demand is problematic when no market institutions exist. However, such institutions did exist being in a lesser degree in the arts. There anyway were people who wanted art and could afford to buy it is it would be available, i.e. there was pressure. Second, the impressionist painters often depict places related to nature in their paintings. The nature they depict is a nature that the bourgeois in their new urban life misses and now long for. Their works had been rejected by the jury of the Salon rejected the work but they found their way in an expanding market that could not be contained. Third, in as far as there may have been a willingness among the old organizations to answer the additional demand, the organizations were just not able to govern a much larger supply in the customary formal ways.
Section (14)
General remarks.
(14)a. On the basis of his empirical research (Rengers, 2002) argues that in the Dutch situation of the late 1990s two distinct career paths of visual artists can be distinguished. One is the government career path and the other is the private career path. This is in line with what is said in this section. I expect that in earlier decades the distinction would apply even better. (According to Rengers in the private market it takes more time to get established, while in both markets success breeds success.)
(14)b I write: “Over the last two decades official art education still can make a difference for success….” This does not imply that the survival rate of officially educated artists is higher than of others. (Alper & Wassall, 2006) states that in the USA in the period 1950-2000 the return to education for artists is lower than in other professions, or even negative. But this may no longer apply. Cf. (Bille & Jensen, 2016)
Web-notes section 14
/35. In the later years of the visual art academies in France, artists who are member of the academy are allowed to let their work be sold by commercial dealers on their behalf, even though they themselves cannot have a shop. (White & White, 1995) 8. Because art objects are more easily moved than performances, thanks to the activities of dealers there is not only commercialization but also internationalization in the late 18th and in the 19th century. (Arora & Vermeylen, 2013) 205.
/36. That artists generally cannot harm customers, like a medical practitioners or lawyer without diploma could do, is an additional circumstance which allows the recognition of artists without degree.
/37. That is, the number taking into account the size of the population and a lower demand for art per head. A “working artist” is an artist whose primary earnings come from working as artists. In (Jahoda & others, 2014) this group consist of writers, authors, artists, actors, photographers, musicians, singers, producers, directors, performers, choreographers, dancers, and entertainers.
Section (15)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes section 15
/38.Given the acoustics, in these art-buildings also non-art “performances”, like conferences with speakers on the stage, are possible.
Section (16)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes section 16
/39. In all artforms there are people who experience a tense relationship between a belief in the mutable in art, in art having a transient character, and a belief in an eternal beauty that is based on the conviction that artworks have universal value. (Doorman, 2003).
/40. Theodor Adorno is supposed to have said that within a few decades people would whistle the music in the streets. This did not happen. Serial music left traces but in hindsight it represented foremost an important but short-lived parallel art-stream which was and still is foremost interesting for groups of serious musicians making works in other genres. The enjoyment of serial music requires much preliminary listening if not training. Therefore, all through the 20th century only small groups of consumers appreciate the new music.
Section (17)
General remarks.
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Web-notes section 17
/41. In the case of the paintings this is certainly impossible, because modern viewers and even experts do not know the symbolic meanings of objects in the paintings which at the time were meaningful and mattered much for the viewers.
In the case of the same artworks, in their mind modern viewers and experts construct other meaningful artworks. See section *. Are these understandings superior? Or, at a single moment in time, is the way higher educated people understand Mozart’s music or Van Gogh paintings, better than the way lower-class people understand them? Or is the way European white and well-educated youngsters understand RAP music better than the way black low-class youngsters understand this kind of RAP in the US? The answers are highly subjective. There certainly are no objective reasons to assume that one or the other way is superior.
/42. Aside: sometimes modern art theorists use orderings of institutional recognition to determine and “measure” artistic quality of contemporary art. The assumption is that artistic quality according to experts is well-reflected by institutional recognition, as this is now measured by, among others, artfacts (http://www.artfacts.net/). Financial success, as for instance measured by Artprice (http://www.artprice.com), can next be compared with institutional recognition.
/43. Early examples of classifications and rankings in the visual arts are Vasari’s Lives of Painters, Sculptures and Architects of 1550 and Karel van Mander’s Schilder-Boeck —Book of Painters— of 1601.) In later texts quality judgments sometimes had an “objective” basis. Different weights were attached to composition, the use of color and so forth.
/44. Within quality hierarchies, distinctions are made and, not always very clear, lines are drawn. One essential distinction in this text is that between recognized art which is higher and unrecognized art which is lower [*]. A second distinction is that between consecrated (or canonical) and not consecrated artworks and artists. Consecrated works are especially good and not just merely good. They are often found or performed in art buildings. Many of them are part of a canon of exemplary works. The third is a distinction between classics and non-classics. The classics are works of unassailable importance; they deserve to be revered for their greatness and performed and shown on a continuous basis. Examples of, supposedly “immortal” classics are works by Rembrandt, Bach and Shakespeare.
19th century scientists and their audience obsessively categorize things and people, and construct hierarchies. Quality hierarchies of things, animals and people are constructed, including artworks and human races.— In the first half of the 20th century the inclination is not less intense, but an increasing number of scientists stop making general quality judgment. They are aware that over time popular orderings change. In the arts this awareness only become more common over the last decades.
/45. This is not to say that a canon of exemplary works is arbitrary or can be changed at will. On the one hand those who emphasize the importance of a canon are insufficiently aware that a canon is a human construction. On the other hand, critics of a canon forget that that it is not accidental that the works in the canon have been appreciated for a very long. This tells not about immortality or an unchangeable artistic core, but it tells something about the importance of meanings, meanings that may be relevant for many successive generations. A test of time does not tell about artistic value; it tells of importance for consumers. And it presupposes a continuous enrichment by successive generations of experts. Enrichment adds up turning works in first consecrated works and next classics.
/46. One example is that of changing judgments on the artistic value of pre-historic works or works created in primitive societies, such as cave drawings, Venus figurines and totems. Shortly after their discovery they were regarded as interesting but not as art. Only in the 20th century they become recognized as art. At the time those who believe in a universal artistic core with artistic value, argue that they already had such a core before the works became acknowledged as artworks. It only had to be uncovered.
In a changing world there is no immortal art and a “test of time” is deceptive. First, the definition of what is art and what is not art, changes. Jazz was first no-art, while later at least part becomes art —with retrospective affect even serious jazz classics are created. After their discovery, cave drawings, Venus figurines and totems were regarded as interesting curiosities but not as art. Only in the 20th century they become recognized as art. Second, hierarchies within the recognized serious art domain change. The artistic value of works and oeuvres can increase and decrease. An example of changing judgments on the quality of the works of individual artists of old is that of Bach’s works which, only after having been rediscovered by Mendelssohn, gradually become consecrated and classics.
The significance of a test of time is, indeed, limited; certainly when social rather than just artistic qualities are taken into account. An example is 17th century landscape paintings. Over time their symbolic value increased much, as shows from their prominent position in museums, but over the last decades the paintings are moved to less important rooms or no longer shown. The pictures have become less meaningful for audiences and buyers. (In comparison with that of other genres and works from other periods their relative price level has gone down.)
An interesting example of changing quality judgments related to societal developments is that of the judgment of experts of very romantic and symbolist paintings by painters like Casper Friedrich (1774-1840) and Franz Von Stuck (1863-1928). In their own time the works were very popular and the artistic value thought to be high. But this changes in the first half of the 20th century. And after the style and the works had been adopted by the Nazi regime valuations became even less positive. The art is still recognized art, but it is unimportant art. The Nazis had good use for them. Next in the 1970s the interest among art historians increases again as does the interest of consumers. The more important works return in the more important rooms of the museums. But many do not. The re-appreciation is half-hearted. A plausible explanation for this rests in another development in society. Posters of very romantic serious old art, like Friedrich’s most famous work Der Wanderer, appear in the houses of others than true art-lovers. Moreover, in the popular visual arts various symbolist styles emerge and are very successful. This leads to a lower appreciation of symbolist art by art-historians and art-lovers. —Symbolist popular art is offered in the form of above all posters, but also murals, comics and nowadays games.—
An example we already came across several times is the use of works of old to emphasize the importance of the new and sometimes still feeble nation states, as well as of new work deliberately praising them. In the 19th century the artistic value of the works is usually judged to be high. But many of those works, like history painting and music from the classical era, are now judged to be artistically less interesting and no longer hold prominent places in the museums and halls. (A clear exception is Beethoven’s “heroic” Fifth symphony, in which, the same as in many other symphonies, “good defeats evil”. The piece turned out to be useful for a succession of “victorious” regimes; among others the Third Reich and the European Community. The latter’s hymn is based on the last movement of the symphony. In the symphony.)
Section (18)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes section 18
/47. Before the period of serious art nobles, bishops and rich merchants had bought contemporary visual art and in a lesser degree old visual art, which they “exhibited” in the private sphere of their palaces and homes and which their offspring de facto preserved for several generations. There was also trade in older visual art but it was very limited.
/48. First, the over-enrichment in classical music of the old master shows from the absence of much promotion of contemporary work and its limited success. This shows from the low percentage of performances of symphony music composed by living composers. Many of their works are never performed, and if they are performed the large majority is only performed once. (According to Eric William Lin, in the case of the New York Philharmonic which performs relatively many new works, still only around 20% is by living composers, and of these works only 30% is performed more than one time. Of all performances of the orchestra only 10% are repeat performance. See: https://ericwilliamlin.com/NYPhil_data_viz/ accessed 21/5/2019.
Second, some contemporary composers are well aware that the heritage is endangered due to a little lively present. They are well aware that a lively heritage requires a lively present production. In interviews Richter mentions as one of his reasons for re-composing works of old the need to keep tradition alive and, as he says, not in a sanctified museum setting. At the moment (2017) one can listen to and watch a very popular recording of a live performance of Richter’s re-composition of Vivaldi’s Four seasons on YouTube.
Third, sometimes it is not so much a broad range of works in the heritage that continues to be promoted and be “enriched” but a selection of artists and works. They are praised into the sky. Enthusiastic researchers, curators, conductors and so forth continues to enrich the classics. —Sometimes they also have a reputational or financial interest in the “enrichment” activity.— Numerous books have been written about Rembrandt and even more are and continue to be written about Bach. These are works for experts and expert consumers, but indirectly they continue to enrich Bach for a much larger audience. Later enrichment of classics builds on earlier enrichment. There is accumulation. The result is the presence of extreme winners among the older classics.
Fourth, in the visual arts the consequences are less extreme. Be it with considerable delay, in the course of the 20th century the established visual art-world also starts to promote and enrich its 20th century classics. By now everybody knows the name of Picasso and Warhol and knows at least some of their works. The same does not apply to the new classics in classical/serious music. Few people know the names of Shostakovich and Messiaen and are familiar with at least some works. Unlike the classics of old they have hardly been publicly enriched and promoted.
Section (19)
General remarks.
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Web-notes section 19:
/49. In the second half of the 20th century in the ballet art-world the excessive praise and dominance of the classic repertoire and an unwillingness to also produce (inauthentic) contemporary re-compositions, led to a split. The result is two sub-art-worlds —one of ballet and one of (contemporary) dance. Within the latter there is an interest in traditional ballet. The contemporary dance world is showing clear links between old and new. The ballet world is declining.
Earlier the heritage in theatre was also static. The so-called repertoire theatre dominated in the theaters. But after a revolution in the 1960s and 70s authentic performances of old works have become rare, while re-compositions have become common. The production of new plays increased much and the works now form the majority of the performances. At first this led to an increased decline in the demand of live theatre, but recently this stopped and numbers of visitors start to increase. The art-world is small, but thanks to players who perform in live theatre as well as film its impact is larger than it otherwise would have been.
The film art-world is new. The emphasis is on new work. With retroactive effect a heritage of classics is produced, but this promotes rather than hinders the creation of new works. —In most film museums both old and new films are shown.— In literature the new is dominant, but in most libraries the past classic works are well accessible. Due to sole technical (re) production —usually in large series— in both film and literature the boundary between serious and popular is not clear. And thanks to low prices people with medium-sized and shallow pockets have a large say in the composition of produced works. This may promote contemporaneity, while some may argue that a bit more attention for classics is called for.
/50. In their discussion of enrichment (Boltanski & Esquerre, 2016) refer to an “authentic heritage brand”.
/51. GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a country in a certain period.
Innovative Art and Mainstream Art
General remarks of sub-chapter Innovative Art and Mainstream Art.
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Section (20)
General remarks.
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Web-notes section 20:
/52. This, for instance, applies to the books of the Dutch writer Theun de Vries, whose oeuvre for a long time was put down and pilloried by the literary establishment.
/53. See web-note 60 in this chapter on restricted production
Section (21)
General remarks.
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Web-notes section 21
/54. As far as I know the first major art museum showing exclusively 20th century art is the San Francisco Museum of Modern-art in the US, built in 1935. Europe is more conservative, but some less prestigious museums based on private collections also become established around that time, like the Kröller-Müller museum in the Netherlands.
/55. In some, but not all, academies it was re-introduced two decades later but only as an elective.
/56. The importance of the inflexible concert halls partly explains why in serious music no two sub-artworlds could develop as happened in ballet/dance with its sub-artworlds of ballet and of modern dance or in the visual artworld with a sub-artworld of old art and one of modern art, each with own art-buildings. The existing buildings also prevented an overall modernization as occurred in theatre.
/57. The shouting event is referred to as “de notenkraker actie” and that of the throwing of tomatoes “de actie tomaat”.
/58. Initially in the theatre art-world the human and financial cost of the successful revolution are high. The majority of the conservative consumers lose their traditional performances and stop coming. The overall number of visitors goes down much. But in the continental European countries where, not a large but considerable, part of overall theatre subsidies started to go to many small alternative ensembles, the overall employment of actors does not go down —while the number of staff increases much. Some famous older actors, however, suffer, not because they stop being employed but because they are looked down on by the modernists. After a while the new and renewed plays start to attract larger and younger audiences again.
/59. In the 60s and 70s modern- and experimental literature becomes somewhat successful. Some continental European governments support and promote it, while in the US (state subsidized) universities do the same. But in this lively but weak and slightly more commercial art-world, the very experimental literature of the 1960s and 70s never becomes successful among larger audiences. Also many critics reject the new styles. Only a few small and self-subsidizing publishers publish the works, while most of them soon lose interest. In some countries in serious poetry —in this book I subsume poetry under literature— a similar conflict emerges: hermetic (or modernist) poetry opposes anecdotal poetry and for a while the first becomes recognized while the latter is put down. (Under different names the opposition continues to the present day, but it is no longer experienced as a conflict: there is cohabitation rather than conflict.)
Section (22)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes section 22
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Section (23)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes
/60. First, Bourdieu’s field of unrestricted production not only includes established but also popular art. Second, he argues that the “autonomy of a field of restricted production can be measured by its power to define its own criteria for the production and evaluation of its products.” (Bourdieu, 1993).
Authentic Art and Artists (notes 1 – 59)
General remarks and corrections.
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In Search of an “Authentic Self”
General remarks of sub-chapter In Search of an “Authentic Self”.
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Section (24)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes section 24.
/1. It is true that when people spend money on art, they do not buy specific ready-made art experiences. To have an art experience they still have “work” to do. Aside: Acknowledging that it is consumers who develop artworks on the basis of a thing produced by the artist, it can be argued that the artists’ artworks are no products that can be sold and bought. Artworks only exist while consumers perceive and re-construct the thing created by artists. This is what (A. Klamer, 2016) 82 argues.
/2. In fact, the consumer buys a right to be present in a location in which he can perceive the artworks or, in the case of performances, can perceive artworks in the process being created.
Section (25)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes section 25
/3. The same as (Giddens, 1991) but unlike (Taylor, 1989) I use the term authentic self. This usage is a bit strange because it implies that not only an identity but also a self can be not only authentic but also inauthentic or something in between. I am inclined to say that a self cannot by inauthentic. If a self can be inauthentic the phrase “being true to one’s self” would make no sense. But, although in my view a pleonasm, I will nevertheless use the term “authentic self” (within inverted commas) to emphasize the important characteristic of the self being authentic.
Section (26)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes section 26
/4. It is foremost (Simmel, 1992) (in German) who analyzed the process of individuation from the perspective of people being functions rather than integrated beings. According to him in the modern world, the larger culture and all its various components (including the money economy) expand, and as they expand, the importance of the individual decreases.
/5. (M. Weber, 1930) emphasizes the process of disenchantment. Later sociologist, like (Campbell, 1987) and (Ritzer, 1999) draw attention to a simultaneous process of re-enchantment. The dialectical aspect of the latter has been emphasized by (Tiryakian, 1992) 89.
/6. To a degree other capital can be acquired with time and money, and vice versa.
Section (27)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes section 27
/7. An example is the oeuvre of Johann Sebastian Bach, which is now performed far more often than that of his son, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. During their life the works of Carl Philip were more successful and in demand than those of Sebastian Bach. After the death of each composer their works were not that often performed anymore. —This is what could be expected given the contemporaneity of music and a lack of interest in older work [*].— Nevertheless. the works of Carl Philip continued to be performed be it not often and those of Bach far less. It is only due to an expert with an outspoken taste for expressive works that they change position within the musical heritage. In the early 19th century the composer and conductor Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy brings Bach to the forefront. At the time he and an increasing number of music lovers have started to appreciate expression and self-expression in works and they found this in the works of Sebastian rather than in those of Carl Philipp (CPE).
Rembrandt’s work has probably always been in the forefront, but the wide spread attention for his works also stems from the nineteenth century. Only in that century it is as large or exceeds the attention for the works of his contemporary, Peter Paul Rubens. Especially his (self-)portraits, the same as the portraits of Hans Holbein, appear to tell about the inner world of the depicted person and this is much appreciated.
A heritage of “authentic” interpretations and performance practices can also change over time. As we shall see, this applies to Bach’s music [*authentic performance].
Aside: All this shows that an art heritage is constructed and re-constructed. It is never fixed. It changes with time [*]. The presence of works changes as do performance styles, exhibiting styles and styles of publications. A heritage is alive. (Trying to fix it, its worth for society decreases [*].)
/8. All this is not to say that before the period of serious people were not at all interested in the lives of artists. According to (Heinich, 2005) 119 (in French) also before an exceptional life or dedication of artists sometimes added to the value attached to their works, but she emphasizes that these cases are not representative.
/9. Anna has a colleague who she knows well and who makes wonderful installations. In an exhibition, she showed —not for the first time— a rather depressing work: a mountain existing of crashed airplanes. Anna thought this befitted her also given the personal history. But when during the opening one of the visitors asked about her personal emotional relationship with the work, she categorically denied that it had anything to do with herself. It was simply art-for-arts-sake. Anna knew she was not honest, but that she had not wanted the artwork to be personal. She even protested when spectators told her how much the artwork called forward unhappy feelings. She did not want the spectators to construct stories that she had not intended.
Section (28)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes section 28
/10. Art certainly is no successor of religion, but some art experiences are not unlike religious experiences. Moreover, many well-known modern-artists are religious or use religious themes: among them the painters Georges Rouault, Mark Chagall and Mark Rothko and the composers Francis Poulenc, Olivier Messiaen and John Tavener. Moreover, many modern-artist associations with religion matter and transcendental notions are present in many artworks which appeal to people’s inner-self.
Section (29)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes section 29
/11. According to (Small, 1998) the sequence of the music in the typical nineteenth century symphony is predominantly a chronological recording of the fight between order and chaos, between good and evil; a fight in which after much struggle the former defeats the latter. In the first movement order is established, in the second order is disturbed, and in the third (or third and fourth) movement, a triumphed final a new order is established that grows out of the old —(Small, 1998). But whereas in the 18th century this type of story with its happy end was foremost entertaining [*], in the nineteenth century the symphonies become more serious, subtle, varied and personal. (In Beethoven’s Fifth however, which served as a model for the later symphonies of Brahms and Mahler, the finale is more triumphed than ever before and not yet that subtle.) Next to listening to those older symphonies, which in the nineteenth century had become “classics” [*], the new serious symphonies, and certainly those of Mahler, allowed the listeners to embark on very personal journeys. Along with the music the listener could create his own fantasy and discovery tour. And if during the finale he could not say “this is me” he may still have said “this is who I can become”.
But the “I” is less unique than he may think. After a scary, but also attractive voyage into the world of evil, both outside and inside, the person the same as other bourgeois or other upper middle class visitors come out of the concert victorious and strengthened: “I can and have overcome.” With an ease of mind he could resume the orderly and rational daily activities.
To a degree the victorious mood in the symphony and among listeners may have followed from the fact that the bourgeois had freed itself from the previously dominant aristocracy and felt proud of this. The latter certainly showed from the grandeur of the halls and their interiors. But in the case of the symphony, it cannot explain its calm beginning. There evidently was order and happiness, but it is disturbed. The victory is not a victory which took place in the past as is suggested in some operas; in line with modernity at large the victory is future orientated. In the imagination it is indeed a “We will overcome”.
While constructing an own artwork in internal conversations it are often an imagined self or an imagined potential self and imagined others, which “talk” with one another. Conversations, internal or not, imply interaction. This also applies to internal conversation and to possibly all forms of thinking. As Herbert Mead argues, when people think they are talking to themselves or to imagined others. According to him thinking is internal conversation between parts of the self. These can be an ‘I’ or ‘me’ or a specific or generalized ‘other’ or ‘others’. Cf. (Mead, 1934). (Collins, 2005) also emphasizes the interactional aspect in thinking, even when there is no verbal dialogue.
For instance, in music different melodic lines or different parts of a painting can represent the own person, a parent, or a personalized concept like danger or peace; and these imagined actors may talk with one another. Possibly the artist who made the work is one of the discussion partners as well. Such conversations develop over time. Therefore the term journey makes sense. Nevertheless, most of the time the conversations are short, automatic and so numerous that we do not notice them.
But every now and then an art experience stands out. The first time Anna visited the Tate gallery in London —this was in 1963 at age seventeen— she was struck by Turner’s painting Rain, Steam and Speed, and on later occasions she kept returning to this painting. For her the rain and steam were chaotic while the depicted train had speed, was powerful and had direction. Anna remembered thinking: “this is who I am; who I am deep down” and “I am chaotic but I can handle it.” At that time Anna wanted to be strong and have direction (the same as the train) and she believed she had it “in her”. Therefore, in hindsight Anna thinks that the “this is me” was rather: “this is who I want to be”. Anna still had to realize or develop a “true” self. In those days the overall painting touched her. Looking now at a reproduction she thinks that at that time she must have been involved in a hardly noticed conversation between the train standing for power and direction and the surroundings representing chaos.
Anna constructed an own artwork with own meanings, meanings that may or may not have been intended by Turner. On the basis of the painting which she, the same as anybody else, “scans” —this is a process that takes time— she constructed an artwork in successive stages, i.e. a story comparable with stories in the performing arts and literary artworks [*s. expression].
Artworks can also bring along feelings and knowledge about one’s self that are not pleasant. They may guide art lovers towards a world of personal strength and possible victories, or to beauty and fantastic hidden treasures, but also to peril and inner evil, as in the case of the discovery of primitive, violent and sexual inclinations or inner drives. The own self or soul can turn out to be “a yawning abyss, an immense collection of caves full of desires, hidden horrors….”—(Doorman, 2004) (in Dutch) 32. The nineteenth century romantic artists were often fascinated by violence and some of their works express much darkness.
/12. Mark Rothko’s abstract paintings and Hirst’s Spot paintings, which for many people are likely to tell about universal truths, certainly promote introspection and an exploration of one’s self. But also story-telling music and books with detailed descriptions of a person’s life can serve the exploration of a self. All such works can be said to be romantic works, and some also transcendental. Romanticism indeed plays an important role in the development of the new more openly expressive styles. The group of artists who in the early 19th century start to create romantic works not only deliberately create an idealized view of reality; they also express their inner-selves and often intentionally. It is a self that in hindsight is often an idealized self, but this does not imply that at the time the artists are dishonest.
Already in a relative early stage romantic music —from the music of Beethoven to that of Gustav Mahler— becomes popular among larger audiences. With time it becomes very successful, a situation that, as far as older audiences are concerned lasts to the present day.
/13. (Pearson & Richards, 2003) and (Rapoport, 1982) argue that depending on the architecture any building influences atmosphere and behavior. Material culture can be said to objectify social relationships, political orders and collective identities (Miller, 2005). This is also what (Lena, 2014) 11 argues in the case of popular music.
/14. Exceptions to the rules of the common serious art-setting exist and because they are exceptional they draw much attention. Their existence indirectly demonstrates the uniformity of these settings. An example is the Last Night of the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Ever since the first occasion in 1895 the behavior of the higher-class audience is far from subdued and still, it is not still in between the movements and acts and it is not as still as is common during the actual performances. There is an elated mood. Not unlike during carnival people who otherwise behave in restraint ways, “let go”. (Also the repertoire is exceptional. It is a combination of serious and light music, a combination that, as noted, is taboo during the period of serious art.)
/15. Henry Moore as well did not like his work being shown in the art-setting of sculpture gardens of museums. After Moore’s death there were attempts to move his sculptures to such gardens. The widow of Moore much resented these efforts: it went altogether against her late husband’s wishes.
/16. The Dutch show “De wereld draait door” with its presenter Van Nieuwkerk.
/17. In their ceremonies and use of symbols prestigious organizations tend to lag behind general developments in society. Symbols of the long history and thus the continuity of the organization are important, but there comes a moment that also for the own participants certain symbols start to be funny or even irritating. For them they can no longer be emblems of the high value of an organization that wants to be alive and wants to continue to be alive in the future. This must have been the reason why university professors stopped wearing gowns while teaching. This is not to say that gowns have altogether disappeared. They are still worn in ceremonies like inaugurations and foundation days. There the protocol airs seriousness, while at the same time the folkloristic aspect is recognized and appreciated as folklore by the participants. These are irregular events and most participants find them rather pleasant.
/18. In Paris now expensive theatre performances —foremost Moliere pieces— are offered, in which, in much detail, the ambience of old is recreated and part of the audience dresses up correspondingly. It is likely that in the future also a small number of conventional classical music concerts with the at present common protocol will continued to be offered. It would be attractive for groups of consumers and at the same time be a form of heritage preservation. (In the performances of Rieu the musicians sometimes wear old dresses, but there is no attempt to recreate the ambience of old.)
Section (30)
General remarks and corrections.
So far none.
Web-notes section 30.
/19. Even when very young, when visiting concerts with her parents, unlike other children it did not take Anna pains to be still. —She had had practice in church.— However, when other children were noisy or older people coughed this disturbed her, but foremost because she felt vicarious shame and pitied them. Control was indeed in the air.
/20. In the 1980s Anna for a while drew the faces of musicians of small ensembles playing in churches. She moved her pencil over the paper in the rhythm of the music. On two occasions people sitting several rows behind her asked her during the break to stop doing this: the sound of the pencil was disturbing. She asked her friends sitting next to her, if they heard the sound of the pencil. They did not. This puzzled her. Only later she realized that it was the well-noticeable movement of her upper body during drawing that had disturbed the people behind her with as result that they “heard” sounds that were not there.
/21. Collective effervescence is an amplified, excited reaction made possible when a group of people experience something emotional together. It is a joyful intoxication. It is a concept introduced in sociology by (Durkheim, 1965). (Collins, 2005) and (Benzecry & Collins, 2014) apply it in their micro-sociological approach of, what Collins calls, "ritual interaction chains" and draws attention to the rhythmic entrainment of bodies when people together focus on something.
An Obsession with Authenticity, Authorship and Aura
General remarks sub-chapter An Obsession with Authenticity, Authorship and Aura.
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Web-notes Section (31)
General remarks and corrections.
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Web-notes section 31
/22. A related fourth meaning exists which I do not use. An artwork is sometimes called authentic because it is an original and not a replica or reproduction.
Web-notes Section (32)
See Web-text 32
Web-notes Section (33)
General remarks and corrections.
(33)a. A nice 2019 example of re-composition in opera is “Raymond’s production, Othello: Remixed, which… is set around a boxing ring and brings the story of the jealous Moor of Venice to the London of 2019. And for Raymond, who is an ex-offender and a protege of award-winning actor Mark Rylance, the simple act of swapping street vocabulary for the Elizabethan slang used in the original text has allowed actors in his black and ethnic minority acting company to relate to the great tragedy.1
(33)b. In classical music a strife for nominal authenticity and an authentic performance has its limit but appears to become more extreme. An example is the agreed upon musical pitch to which orchestras tune their instruments. First, over time it becomes ever higher in order to let the sound waves reach the audiences at the back of the larger 19th century concert halls. Evidently a wish to offer lower cost performances in large halls to a growing audience affected the way music was produced. But as my ex-master student Pleun Meyer writes: “It seems that only in recent years more attention is directed at not only the ‘authenticity’ of the work produced by composers but that authenticity also should include the ‘authentic’ or ‘original’ pitch. In 1989, the New York Times published a story on the ongoing rise in pitch and although it still focusses primarily on the singers it does also discuss the merits for lowering the pitch from the composer’s perspective. It tells the story of orchestra’s switching back to the Verdi’s A pitch (A=432 hertz) as the musicians feel that that was the pitch it was intended to be played in.”2
Web-notes
/23. Especially authors from before the period of serious art gave conductors, directors, actors and soloists considerable freedom and expected performers to use this space. At the same time it is significant that in the 20th century conductors and soloist do not use all the space for improvisation which composers of old deliberately inserted in their scores. Moreover, the scores were often, deliberately or not, imprecise, which would allow conductors to improvise more than they do. Instead they follow the tradition which in the 19th century is developed, or they stick to a shared opinion on what the intention of the composers may have been. Self-control and a predictable control over the musicians come first. Unlike in theatre their artworks are less “original” than they could have been. Aside: This explains that in serious music much research is done on possible intentions. Moreover, as we shall see below, what is traditional changes over time.
Also, when the latter accurately follow the instructions and create a true instance of the work of the author, in principal performances of the same work are always different —and in the case of the same conductor they even differ from one night to the other. General and recognizable differences between conductors and directors performing the same work exist. They have autonomous space, and whether they are aware of it or not, they use it. They are therefore creative artists who create originals on the basis of originals. In a lesser degree this also applies to soloists and actors. (Aside: Sometimes the composers of old inserted timeslots for musicians to improvise. It is significant that in the course of the period these are less and less used for real improvisation.)
Accurately following the instructions, they nevertheless create original instances of the original work of the author which differ from that of colleagues and also from one performance to another. Their nominally authentic works are expressively authentic. Expert-consumers notice that conductors express themselves, and they may even notice that one night they are in a different mood than another.
(Glaser, 2018) argues that also on recordings there are many variations stemming from conductor’s tempos, dynamics and balances, and from sound engineers' placement of microphones and use of mixers balancing of the final recording. “Consider the differences of Pierre Boulez recording of Ravel with the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and then the Berlin Philharmonic. If you have familiarity with the Ravel works, the differences are clearly there. But you have to know the works well enough to make this differentiation. This is true with any artform though. The more knowledge you have of what you are studying, the easier it is to recognize the details and variations in the works.”
Plays are usually less precise than choreographies which are less precise than scores. Especially theatre directors, also those directing the play in operas, use their autonomous space to create, sometimes exciting, new original works. Moreover,
in the course of the 20th century many theatre directors start to re-compose the plays. They want their own originals to be more expressive authentic than the original scripts of the playwrights allow. They make cuts and, more significantly, start to change lines and sometimes the overall text. They may also have another number of actors on the stage —usually less— and create other settings than prescribed. The resulting plays certainly do not conform to the performance tradition of the 19th and first half of the 20th century and usually also not to the intentions of the author. They are clearly inauthentic. At first a large part of consumers is unhappy with their inauthentic performances, but with time they go along and start to appreciate them [*]. Ballet directors hardly re-compose works of old, and conductors certainly do not do this. In the main period of serious art, the respect for the composers of old is too high.
/24. I recently listened to an interview with a well-known Dutch conductor —Reinbert de Leeuw— and was struck by the fact that each time the interviewer questioned him about the qualities of his performances, among others those of his Bach performances, he altogether played down his own role and emphasized his absolute servitude to the famous composers of old.
/25. In popular music audiences expect covers to be different. They must be expressive a uthentic and not nominal authentic. People enjoy the differences and the fact that the performer shows his personality. Nowadays, the remixes in popular music are an interesting form of re-composition. In remixes often the original recorded voice of the singer is maintained but other sounds are digitally changed or added. Increasingly remixes are now the result of the artistic cooperation of the original singer and the remixer. In this case both take responsibility and both are credited.
/26. That Eisler’s work is re-discovered is undoubtedly also related to the phenomenon that institutions now look for ways to reduce costs. Eisler’s re-composition is indeed an exercise, but a very interesting exercise. It is no accident that Eisler created this work under supervision of Arnold Schonberg, who was no fan of large orchestras. (This was in the context of a class within the "Society for Private Musical Performances".)
/27. First, the virtual players had been provided by Garritan Personal Orchestra (which developed virtual software instruments).
Second, as far as the major opera companies are concerned so far musician unions have successfully prevented the introduction of virtual players. This is understandable; their employment is at stake. However, due to the termination of orchestras over the last 50 years employment of classical/serious musicians has already gone down much and this process will continue. Instead the use of virtual players may well, the same as in popular music, lead to artistic innovations which in turn will lead to in growth in consumer demand and more employment in the long run.
/28. In interviews Richter mentions as one of his reasons for re-composing works of old the need to keep tradition alive and, as he says, not in a sanctified museum setting. At the moment (2017) one can listen to and watch a recording of a live performance of Richter’s re-composition of Vivaldi’s work on YouTube.
Web-notes Section (34)
General remarks.
(34)a. The number of people on the stage indeed makes a difference. The success of the comedian in live and broadcasted performances can partly be explained from lower cost. The same applies to the DJ.
(34)b. What is said in the section about the smaller number of people on the stage in the case of theatre, certainly could apply as well to opera. As (Gilks, 2019) writes answering the question “Are you a fan of chamber opera?” “Very much so. Apart from existing brilliant works like Britten’s The Turn of the Screw I think it’s crucial to the development of new work, which I think is essential to the health of the art form. Full scale grand opera is so expensive to put on that major houses will make only occasional investments in risky new works. One can put on a chamber opera at far less cost in a smaller house and come out whole on a far smaller number of tickets sold. It’s also easier to tour so one can take live opera to communities that don’t get to see the full-scale stuff.”
(34)c. The stronger acoustic amplification in the nineteenth century music halls brought about by reverberation and a long reverberation time was not altogether sufficient. Therefore, as my ex-master Pleun Meijer tells me, according to (Mears, 2014) also clever acoustics design was applied, which utilizes certain shapes and forms within the halls to help the sound waves reach the audiences sitting in the back.
The I write “In the nineteenth century a major invention in the world of music allowing less cost per visitor is the development of the new and by now traditional music hall. Productivity increases much thanks to acoustic amplification brought about by reverberation and a long reverberation time.
Web-notes section 34
/29. Cf. (Baumol & Bowen, 1966). Peacock (Peacock, 1968), coined the term cost-disease which next became generally used, also by Baumol. For a more detailed, short and accessible explanation of the theory see (Heilbrun, 2003). (Baumol, 1993) also applied the theory to other sectors of production.
/30. That in opera runs are shorter than could have been possible follows from a wish to offer a larger yearly number of different operas by the same company or several companies in the same prestigious art-building. The company or theatre does this to keep up its reputation and its position in the international competition. Mutatis mutandis, the same applies to certain ballet and serious music performances. For an extensive treatment of the cost disease in the case of opera see (Towse, 2003).
Web-notes Section (35)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes section 35
/31. This is not to say that buyers or commissioners were altogether indifferent. They, for instance, new that most animals in a Peter Paul Rubens’s paintings were painted by his colleague Frans Snyders, a specialist animal painter.
/32. It also shows from the phenomenon that plagiary and fraud draw much attention. The fraud or falsification and the plagiarized works are originals but they are wrongly attributed and therefore inauthentic. In an economy that is based on private property fraud and plagiary are forbidden by law and those who break the law are punished. But what stands out in the case of art is the indignation (and excitement) in such cases. People related to the wrong person and feel cheated in an existential way. Someone interfered with their relationship with the artist and with art. Well known is the case of Van Meegeren who created and next sold paintings in the style of Vermeer —a case of plagiary—; and by forging his signature he pretended that they were made by Vermeer —a case of fraud. After he admitted the fraud, the paintings became far less important and lost most of their financial value, and there was much indignation. Suggesting that a highly regarded painter, Vermeer, created the paintings and put his soul in them, while in fact it was only a minor painter, Van Meegeren, who did so, is a major sin.
/33. The notion of the genius probably has enhanced the competition between very successful artists when claiming the symbolic authorship of certain innovations or even a whole (sub)genre. The competition with others may well have stimulated Picasso in taking further daring steps in his artistic career. It anyway raised the prices of his works, and also groups of experts and museums profited. They, of course also played a role in the settlement of the dispute.
/34. (Hirst & Burn, 2002) 82: “I had an argument with an assistant who used to paint my spots. A fantastic argument. Because it’s, like, nothing comes out of my studio unless I say it comes out of the studio. You’ve got loads of people working. You’ve got people you care about that you’ve known for long periods of time. When she was leaving, and she was nervous, she said, “Well I want a spot painting. I’ve painted loads for you. I’ve painted these spot paintings for a year, and I want one.” A year in the studio, getting paid a fiver, a tenner an hour, whatever it is. So I said, “I’ll give you a cheque for seventy thousand quit if you like —why don’t I just do that? Because you know you’re going to sell it straight away. You know how to do it. Just make one of your own.” And she said” No, I want one of yours.” But the only difference between one painted by her and one of mine is the money.” (Hirst, of course, does not give her money.)
Web-notes Section (36)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes section 36
/35. Over the last years working together on a project basis also applies to cooperation between singer-songwriters and DJ-producers. Outstanding examples of the latter are the 2016 cooperation of David Guetta with Rihanna, Guetta adding a Hip-hop sound to some of Rihanna’s mainstream tracks. At the same time Rihanna was featured in a Guetta track. In 2017 Diplo cooperated with Justin Bieber. Thanks to digital production and the internet, there now is also much transnational collaboration among DJ-producers.
/36. Earlier there was a development in popular music in a different direction. From circa 1980s the relative number of singer-song writers increases and that of bands goes down. Collaboration on equal footing and equal crediting become somewhat less common. (Collaboration on almost equal footing with “producers” is however unchanged.) The transition can partly be explained from the phenomenon of costs. the singer-song writer set up is less time consuming and therefore more cost-efficient than that of the band. But a supplementary explanation is that the benefits of not only legal but also symbolic authorship matter also in popular music. This evidently does not stand in the way of cooperation of duos.
/37. The making of collaborative artworks is not the same as being engaged as artist in so-called collective or collaborative action. Whether or not as part of an artistic or political movement, artists often join forces in collective action.
/38. Artists working in teams may well be more creative than those working on their own. It is precisely the differences between the participants in a team that in successive cycles of dialogue, negotiation and compromise can enhance quality. Working together with colleagues, consulting with users, negotiating and compromising sometimes lead to higher quality art or more creative solutions. As said, the assumption that a maximum of autonomy and a maximum of creativity correspond is ungrounded.
Web-notes Section (37)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes section 37
/39. (Karpik, 2010) calls very singular works singulars. My treatment of singularity and singulars is inspired by Karpik’s extensive treatment. He, however, does not use the notion of “an experience of singularity”. (Heinich, 2005) uses the concept of singularity in the case of art and artists, but in a much broader sense than I do.
/40. Sometimes non-expert consumers are not aware of perceiving certain unique properties, but in unnoticed ways these properties may still influence their artistic experience and make it more intense.
/41. Singular works or kinds of works are relatively incommensurable and multidimensional with the consequence that their replaceability or substitutability is limited. They are nevertheless commodities that can be sold and bought in markets. (Karpik, 2010) adds to incommensurable and multidimensional the aspect of a radical quality uncertainty.
/42. But even expert consumers do not always appreciate much complexity. For instance, many expert serious music consumers do not appreciate the complexity of twelve-tone music, that is, unless they are experts on twelve tone music. For them the singularity and complexity go at the cost of the intensity of their art experience.
/43. (Benjamin, 1969) did not think in terms of a constructed and enriched aura. In this text the term aura probably refers to more historic “facts” than Benjamin’s aura. Morever, in this text enrichment applies to objects as well as activities like performances [77].
Informalization
General remarks of sub-chapter Informalization.
So far none.
Web-notes Section (38)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes section 38
/44. Differences between countries and social classes exist. A wonderful account of “cost and benefits” of self-control can be found in (Forster, 2017)’s A Room with a View (or in the filmed version with the same title).
/45. There is no been need for an implicit or explicit demand as in an etiquette, like “always dance without taking much space”, or “never disturb others”. (If necessary people automatically start to wordless negotiate with one another.) There is always interaction. In the case of the dancers, interaction precedes and accompanies the transition to a less space expressive and space demanding way of dancing. The outcome is a compromise. Taking the wishes of others into account, but not in an all or nothing fashion, represents a new competence, a competence that befits a more informal society. The civilization process has indeed entered a new phase. In a broad interpretation of the term “civilized” people can be said to have become more civilized.
/46. In yellow lounge concerts there is already more possibility for movement. In classical music raves DJs play mixes of classical/serious music pieces for a large audience that dances on the music, the same as in Dance music parties. The raves are a Dutch invention. They are, however, most successful in North- and South America.
/47. Presently the company is part of Universal Music Group.
Web-notes Section (39)
General remarks.
(39)a. Interesting in the context of an art-setting, self-constructed artworks and co-production by art consumers is what (Heath & vom Lehn, 2004) write: “….Despite the growing sociological interest in the object….., there is relatively little research about how people in ordinary day-to-day circumstances explore and respond to exhibits in museums and galleries. In this article, we address the conduct and interaction of visitors to museums and galleries and consider how they examine and experience objects and artefacts in collaboration with each other. In particular, we address the ways in which one participant shapes, through gesture and talk, how those they are with look at and respond to exhibits.
(39b) The thesis that artists must be and want to be in charge also applies to art historians. They demand that audiences (spectators) properly interpret works. If necessary they must be educated. They are not allowed to develop their own, supposedly (incorrect) interpretations.
Web-notes
/48. Research shows that when people are close together and focus on the same thing, their bodies interact with one another. This is the case during a performance in a concert hall or theatre There is, so called, rhythmic entrainment, resulting in collective effervescence. It is “in the air”, but people are not or hardly aware of it. (Collins, 2005) and (Benzecry & Collins, 2014) There, nevertheless, is unnoticed interaction between audience and performers. The effervescence influences performers, while performers’ behavior has an impact on collective effervescence. This way also apparently passive audiences —audiences who control themselves— can interfere with an artwork. But interference is generally far less than in the case of noticeably active audiences, as exist in the popular arts.
/49. Many classical/serious music students hope to play in a large orchestra, but nowadays, once in an orchestra, they often become disappointed. The required discipline and other demands are (too) high. They, moreover, gradually find out that having an ignorable a creative input, as is possible in, for instance, quartets, is distressing. This shows from the large sickness leave. In this context it is worth noting that nowadays, more is demanded from musicians. The technical perfection of performers and their ability to play a very diverse repertoire is now greater than 50 or 100 years ago.
An Attractive Low-Income Profession
General remarks sub-chapter An attractive Low-Income Profession.
So far none.
Web-notes Section (40)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes section 40
/50. To be precise: Ringo sings this phrase and John and Paul answer, while Joe does both.
/51. Already a Beatle’s song, like “With a little help from my friends” or John Hyatt’s “Have a little faith in me” —and the many covers of these songs with different voices and therefore also different meanings for various kinds of people— testify of this culture. This certainly applies to many contemporary songs, as in the case of Justin Bieber singing “go and love yourself”. Moreover, covers in popular music, i.e. the performances of works that have earlier been performed by others, differ much, because singers are expected to show their own personality and not that of the other. Unlike in serious music authenticity (in a nominal sense) is not required; on the contrary: it is taboo.
/52. Classical schooled voices are far less personal. Sometimes one does not have to be an expert to hear differences between singer and another, but usually differences are small and tell little about the personality of the singer. It is hard to identify with him as a person different from other people. The voice is trained in such a way that also in the back of a large hall or theatre the voice is easy to hear. In a lesser degree the same applies to the voice of actors.
Since amplification is possible with the help of microphones, more personal voices are possible and in theatre they have become more personal. But even though nowadays voices in some opera performances are —somewhat secretly— amplified the classical schooled voice is maintained. Given the intention of the composers of old this is understandable, but in newly composed operas personal voices could have been possible.
That for most non-expert consumers the voices in serious music and opera are relatively impersonal and interchangeable is largely due to the training of voices. The voice is trained in such way that it can be very loud without amplification; so loud that it can be heard in the back of a large hall and can compete with an orchestra. The vocalist has little freedom. For composers and conductors, the human voice is a music instrument that can and must be controlled to produce “beautiful sound”. Control is what can be expected in a formal society, but in an informal society in which amplification is possible and people are interested in performers who are no instruments but real persons, the continuation of these practices is an artistic choice, a choice that for many (potential) non-expert consumers goes at the cost of an experience of singularity and is no longer appreciated.
Training is anyway intense. Much training and practice in the development of the classical schooled voice. The goal is a “chiaroscuro” sound, with the right balance of light and dark tones, a narrow, constant vibrato, consistency from bottom to the top of the range and over the passaggio, and freedom to phrase well. The “right” sound is only somewhat consistent too. Depending on where you’re training or working, you might end up with more or less chiaro or scuro.
This is not to say that no different school of classical vocal technique exist. Examples are those of the Italian Bel Canto and the Germanic Covered Sound. The techniques are seeking to develop the singer's voice to conform to the school's concept of “beautiful sound”.
Differences also exist between the various schools in popular music. Rock, Blues and so-called Adult Contemporary Singing voices tend to be very personal. At present the average musical voice can be emotional but is little personal. An example of recent innovation is that of the Whisper pop voice of, among others, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber, somewhat replacing a more bombastic style of Ariana Grande, as Peter Robinson of the Guardian writes on 17 Nov. 2017.
Web-notes Section (41)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/53. That no earlier systematic research exists is incorrect. See Web-text 41. In the web-text I also discuss that various definitions of artists are used and that the ways that income and numbers of artists are measured differ in the various researches and so do the findings. (Only the part of the website on measuring problems is now available. The remainder will be added in 2020.)
/54. First, this paragraph requires a correction. I write “…94% earns less than the income of the average worker.” This must be “… 85% earns less than the median income of all workers. Second, professional artists producing inferior/unacceptable art are almost certainly much underrepresented in the used sample. It they could have been included, measured incomes may well have been slightly higher.
/55. It is going down. In 2016 in the Netherlands the overall income (including not art jobs) of half of the professional pop musicians is below the poverty threshold. In 2008 this was considerably less. Cf. (Von der Fuhr, 2016) and (IJdens, Fuhr, & Rooij, 2009) ((both in Dutch).
/56. For (more) data see Wt 41.
/57. For (more) data see Wt 41.
Web-notes Section (42)
General remarks.
(42)a. In the book I present three explanations for increased attraction. Other (complementary) explanations exist for the overall attraction. Among others that of a possibly average high inclination to take risks and the fact that a very high income is possible. See (Abbing, 2002) and (Alper & Wassall, 2006) 835.
(42)b. Interesting in the context of this section is the outcome of research by (Røyseng, Mangset, & Borgen, 2007). In the abstract of their article they write: The analysis concludes that even if the contexts for artistic work have changed substantially over the last decades, the charismatic myth of the artist still remains a core idea and an important reference point in the construction of the professional identities of young Norwegian artists. At the same time, the charismatic myth of the artist is challenged by contextual changes that eventually result in reinterpretations of the myth’s content.
Web-notes section 42
None.
Web-notes Section (43)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes section 43
/58. Already for a long time the creative works of major scientists, inventors and politicians have been judged to be very creative, and acknowledged as such. Some of them may, the same as famous artists, be remembered for their “works”. Examples are Albert Einstein and Tim Berners-Lee. Politicians are also remembered for their creative actions. But all such “works” and actions are usually not regarded as authentic works.
/59. The sociologist Pierre-Michel (Menger, 2001) and some art economists argue that contemporary artists select jobs as if it is a portfolio, somewhat comparable with a portfolio of shares and bonds. Simplifying much artists can be said to attempt to reduce future risks while maintaining a reasonable income.
Web-notes Section (44)
See Web-text 44
Web-notes Section (45)
See Web-text 45
Exclusion (notes 1 –33)
Art Not for Everybody and Not by Everybody
General remarks of sub-chapter Art Not for Everybody and Not by Everybody
So far none.
Web-notes Section (46).
General remarks.
(46)a. Most likely this section will be accompanied by a web-text Wt-46 —not mentioned in the main text— in which additional data and corrections are presented. (This web-text will be written and inserted in 2020.)
(46)b. In the last paragraph of the section I write ”… underrepresentation of women has disappeared in all of the main artists groups.” This is untrue, not only —as mentioned— in the case of composers of serious music and DJ-producers, but also in the case of pop-musicians in general. (Many pop-musicians are both composer and performer. In the Netherlands 65 percent of musicians both create and performs their own work.) Cf. for the Netherlands (Von der Fuhr, 2016) and (IJdens et al., 2009). (See also Wt-46.)
(46)c. Lower social groups are almost absent in live serious art events in art buildings including museum. These groups are also underrepresented in live popular art events, but in a lesser degree. However, after circa 1960 their underrepresentation in live popular art events has probably increased. This certainly applies to popular music. Both consumption of live popular music and its production is increasingly dominated by higher educated people. (See also Wt 46.)
Web-notes section 46
/1. As noted, there is another boundary that matters in the context of the social economy of art. This is the boundary between higher bourgeois and higher middle-class people who are art-lovers and thus participate in art-worlds and higher bourgeois and higher middle-class people who don’t. In this case, there may be a gray zone, but there is by definition no under- or overrepresentation.
/2. Instead I mention them in Web-text 46.
/3. First, I use the term non-white. In this text people of African descent, people from Africa and southern Asia are non-White, but not Hispanic-Americans and people from the north-eastern Asian countries: Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. Second, as far as I can tell on the basis of existing data, Hispanic-Americans and people of African descent are also underrepresented, i.e. more than white low-class and lower middle-class people, but data are incomplete, more incomplete than in the case of not very dark immigrants in the European countries. Third, the use of the terms Western or Caucasian would have been preferable, but is (too) unusual and therefore confusing.
/4. Instead see Web-text 46.
/5. That is, the number taking into account the size of the population and a lower demand for art per head. A “working artist” is an artist whose primary earnings come from working as artists. (Jahoda & others, 2014) used census data. They include writers, authors, artists, actors, photographers, musicians, singers, producers, directors, performers, choreographers, dancers, and entertainers, but no designers and architects.
Web-notes Section (47)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/6.
This illustration comes from Coomb’s Popular Phrenology, 1865. The artist Shakespeare has a high brow and the chief a low brow. As (Levine, 1988) 222 writes: “The high brows of such figures as Shakespeare, Milton, and Dickens, especially when contrasted with the pitifully low brows of alien races, became emblatic of culture and intelligence.”
Mechanisms of Exclusion
General remarks of sub-chapter Mechanisms of Exclusion.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (48)
General remarks.
(48)a. The separation of social groups in theatre, which I refer to in this section, corresponds with a separation in music performance. For instance (Accominotti et al., 2018) state that in the late nineteenth century in the case of the New York Philharmonic an emerging professional, managerial, and intellectual middle class found its way to the concert hall, but that “the inclusion of this new audience was segregated: they did not mingle with elites in the concert hall.”
(48)b. There are understandable exceptions, like the exclusion from a concert of drunk people.
Web-notes section 48
/7. This web-note has been removed.
/8. The lines between the three types of markets are somewhat arbitrary. It is impossible to operationalize the concepts in a scientific way. (Frank & Cook, 1995) also use the term deep-pocket markets, which in their winner-take-all theory opposes mass markets. But because, as said, not any market with cheap art items is a mass market, in my distinction I instead use the term shallow-pocket or low-budget markets.
/9. Economist sometimes use the term mass market instead of low-budget market, without mentioning that within a mass market many niche markets may exist with far less consumers. This can be confusing. Depending on questions asked, it is often better to look at smaller or niche markets than at mass markets. Understanding demand and supply of Reggae records, it makes no sense to look at demand and supply in the overall mass market of popular music. Mutatis mutandis this also applies to medieval music and serious music in general.
/10. Together with her friend Toni, Anna went to see a play in the New Theatre in London. She was shocked when after they had shown their tickets to the doorman at the main entrance he stopped them and indignantly sent them to a small entrance hidden in a narrow backstreet with a stairwell leading straight to the third balcony. (The theatre is at St. Martin’s Lane and it was built in 1903. By now all this has changed; the theatre has been renovated and got a different name: Noël Coward Theatre.)
Web-notes Section (49)
General remarks. None so far.
Web-notes Section (50)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/11. There are many products that are attractive to members of one group and not another. For instance, certain groups prefer pasta, others rice and others again potatoes, while no group is informally excluded from any of them. Informal exclusion is also not limited to art events. In different degrees it can be found in any situation in which people in the company of others enjoy services, from eating in an Italian restaurant to using swimming pools. One can however argue that art events have qualities that are unattractive for lower-class people, the same as potatoes are unattractive for groups of Asian people. As we shall see, what is at stake in this chapter is therefore the de facto monopolization of certain services by informal means. Whereas there are different restaurants in which different groups feel comfortable, this is rare in the case of art events.
Web-notes Section (51)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/12. Anna experienced that in the many popular music concerts she visited in the 1980s and 90s, a majority group or tribe often had forceful rules for behavior and clothing for their members. But, with two exceptions, as an enthusiastic “other” and not a prier, she appeared to be welcome. However, because she felt not to “belong” to the group, she felt a bit uncomfortable. She sometimes deliberately went to another venue with the same kind of music —and sometimes the same ensemble— with an overall atmosphere she liked better. But, as she noted, there anyway was no need to learn the proper ways of a tribe. It would have been a waste of time, because most tribes and their conventions do not last long.
/13. If there is a threat of an unwanted “takeover”, in the case of venues, like discotheques, managements may well install a door policy, to maintain the existing atmosphere and keep the existing clientele happy. (Recently Anna came across an dance music venue, De School in Amsterdam, frequented by a predominantly a student clientele, that regularly refuses people. It took some convincing and name-dropping before she was let in.)
/14. To a degree they also occur in the studious domain within the arts. The main room of the Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam, which is foremost used for the performance of contemporary-music, is foremost functional and bare compared with the opulent main hall of the world-famous Concertgebouw, where foremost the older romantic repertoire is performed.) Especially young expert consumers feel more comfortable in the new buildings.
Web-notes Section (52)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/15. Interesting is, however, the removal of Band music —now it is usually called Brass Band music. (Levine, 1988). At the time the bands performed foremost serious music, art-lovers participated and the concerts were very popular. In this case it is not the music but the production practice which is judged to be inauthentic: wrong instruments were used in a wrong setting. For a long time Band music remained attractive for all social groups, but only under the denominator “popular art”, i.e. an example of overlap outside art buildings. But when the repertoire started to include popular music most art-lovers lost interest and the overlap became smaller. (Anna, however, has friends who are fanatic serious music lovers and amateur musicians, who play clarinet in brass bands.)
/16. Popular music is good in the assimilation of “exotic” music. This often goes at the cost of the latter, even though in the long run local music may also develop further. The term creative destruction stems from (Schumpeter, 1934). (Cowen, 2002) argues that in a global culture the modified genres and styles return to the local communities, which in turn enrich them again. A similar argument can be found in (Appadurai, 1996). This is foremost a matter of popular art
Popular folk art of indigenous cultures, peasants and so forth, has had and still has also influence on serious art. In the visual arts Picasso —with his interest in African masks and totems— and contemporaries are influenced by folk art. And in the second half of the 20th century visual art-companies (dealers and museums) regularly develop an interest in exotic art and temporarily import such art and “import” its artists. —Aboriginal art is a good example.— Such imports leave traces. Several composers, like Liszt, Dvořák and Shostakovich, are influenced by folk music. And if one were to call Jazz folk art there are many more composers.
/17. Earlier musicologists, like Theodor Adorno, judged Jazz to be inferior and “commercial” music. Adorno wrote “Jazz is the false liquidation of art...”.
/18. A Dutch example is the Bimhuis in Amsterdam. Telling is also that in the US, of the total number of 71 of the yearly Pulitzer price 68 have gone to serious composers and only three to Jazz composers.
/19. After having read these two paragraphs my ex-MA-student Benjamin Low —a jazz musician presently writing a thesis on jazz for his PhD in Oxford— wrote to me: “I agree with the analysis, although I should add that the appropriation of jazz happens to both the ‘ugly’ and ‘sweet’ side. Some governments and corporations prefer to appropriate elements of commercial (‘sweet’) jazz to soften their image and be more relatable (see, for instance, the album “Singapore swing: a jazz album of Singapore songs”, 2009, endorsed by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Singapore – an album of nationalist music reworked into jazz). Some governments, such as governments of rising nations in Eastern Europe (Lithuania, Poland) looking to consolidate their cultural identity and outflank established Western European countries (UK, Germany, France, for e.g.) appropriate ‘high jazz’ (such as avant-garde and be-bop) by funding and supporting jazz adaptations or collaborations with traditional ethnic/folk genres and treating ‘high jazz’ as a public good. Perhaps the appropriation of jazz by various institutions and actors can be broken down into "Sacred" and "Profane" modes. In the former, jazz is appropriated as cultural capital through calculated idealization and wielded overtly as a means of status distinction. In the latter, jazz is appropriated as a means to soften or disguise relations of power. Either way, the appropriation is calculated, strategic and is possible due to jazz's omnidirectional orientation: anything can be reworked, appropriated and justified. Perhaps, then, the appropriation of jazz is not so much "half-hearted", as it is "convenient".”
Commenting on my remark on serious jazz reconnecting with popular music Low writes: “Jazz’s ambiguity has a double-edged sword for its proponents. The apparent commercialization of jazz is testament to an historical durability deriving from an aesthetic ambiguity in jazz discourse and practice that has consistently afforded its practitioners ample creative opportunity to improvise both musically and in terms of innovative market strategy to meet the demands of each audience and epoch. Jazz has never fully settled on either side of the class spectrum and continues to avoid simple classification. While its malleability allows for appropriation from all angles, it also allows for the creative adaptation of the genre by jazz actors, thereby contributing to its extended relevance across time and space.
/20. Part of photography only became serious art in the 1970s. But this is no case of appropriation. All through the serious art period well-recognized artists have been involved in photography. (This applies to painters, like George Hendrik Breitner, to artists making installations and films, like Man Ray, photojournalists, like Bill Brandt, or portrait and documentary photographers, like August Sanders.) But up to the 1970s art photography is not a well-established branch of visual art and no official education exists for people wanting to become art photographer. In the 70s, however, art photos start to become popular among visual art consumers, including collectors, and an increasing number of experts, dealers and photographers start to plead for the inclusion of photography in the visual art-world. Gradually together with intellectualization of the discourse the popularity and pressure bring along a substantial rewriting of the line between real art and not really art. (Presently, in visual art (bi)annuals and fairs the majority of flat works are photographs.) Because series size of art photos goes down the boundary between art and non-art photography is clearer and more effective than in the case of serious film [*].
Web-notes Section (52)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (53)
General remarks.
(53)a. As mentioned in the section, in the twenty first century visual art reproductions become more acceptable in the visual art artworld. Moreover, certain artists, like Hirst, have started to offer reproductions of their work and productions in large series. More dramatic are (re)productions on the internet and particularly social media. The “series” are infinite. It can be argued, as (Goldman, 2017) does, that the future of visual art rest in large scale (re)production.
Web-notes Section (54)
General remarks.
(54)a. A recent example of “no cost is too high” is that of the performance of fragments from Stockhausen’s opera Licht in Amsterdam in 2019. Part of the performance were string quartets flying through the air in helicopters.3
Web-notes section 54
/21. Anna judges the artistic quality of this kind of performances to be low. So far, she only likes true crossover works with smaller classical/serious music ensembles working together with DJ/producers.
/22. A “decent” artist, like the visual artist Marlene Dumas, after having received a Dutch honorable state price, next donated the prize money to a good art institution.
Web-notes Section (55)
See also Web-text 55
General remark
(55)a.
Source: ANACHORETIQUE. Former Tumblr post: http://eugeniced.tumblr.com/post/88704435167/anachoretique-we-go-to-the-gallery
Web-notes Section (56)
General remarks.
None so far.
No web-notes
Attempts at Inclusion
General remarks sub-chapter Attempts at Inclusion.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (57)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/23. “Bildung” originally refers to the German tradition of self-cultivation, wherein philosophy and education are linked in a manner that refers to a process of both personal and cultural maturation.
/24. Marx rejected such ideas as reactionary, but he was also convinced that in the post-revolutionary communist society art will play a central role in people’s life.
/25. An interesting example of a mixture of reproductions and explanation on the radio is that of the Dutch radio program “Openbaar Kunstbezit” (Public Art-Possession), which existed from 1957 till 1978. With television not yet present in many houses, explanation and printed reproductions were combined. Paying subscribers received by mail small reproductions, which were next discussed and explained in the radio program.
/26. At the time the regimes in the communist countries more generally promote graphic and poster art. Famous international biennials are organized.
/27. At the time of this gallery’s establishment the aim was the civilization of the common man and not yet gentrification. By now Whitechapel has become gentrified and the Whitechapel gallery only exhibits art, which is contemporary, in an altogether gentrified Whitechapel district. That art venues are established or supported to realize gentrification while adherents sometimes justify this by also referring to vertical dissemination effects is a phenomenon that becomes important in the second half of the 20th century.
/28. The gradual realization that vertical dissemination is unsuccessful explains that in the aftermath of the art’s period in the art policy documents there is little attention anymore for lower-class and other ethnic groups who are little interested in the consumption of established art. There is some attention for the art education of amateurs, and for community art, which however is not regarded as serious art. (The latter attention comes and goes in waves.) In the meantime, the statistical offices of countries continue to produce ever more detailed numerical data which demonstrate the continuing underrepresentation of lower social and ethnic groups.
A Love of Art and a Love of Exclusivity
General remarks sub-chapter A Love of Art and a Love of Exclusivity.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (58)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/29. This may be unexpected. Ever since the 1960 along with increasing de-hierarchization and increasing informalization the open display of feelings and expressions of superiority has become more and more taboo. Therefore the new development indicates either a change in the direction of the long term civilization process, or it indicates a further step in the process of informalization. People do not need to hold back; also not feelings of superiority and its display. I think that the latter is correct.
/30. Mutatis mutandis this also applies to very special and very expensive popular music performances for small audiences.
Web-notes Section (59)
General remarks.
/59a.
Miriam Elia, 2018, Source: https://me.me/i/34-i-want-to-play-with-the-balloon-says-peter-only-22516199 (Free to embed.)
Web-notes
/31. In the case of editions it may be possible to determine or estimate a willingness to pay for exclusiveness and thus a financial value that can only be attributed to a demand of exclusivity. Through trial and error profit-oriented artists chose an edition size that they expect to correspond with the highest overall return on their production and sale of copies. For instance, an artist may decide to make three instead or ten or 1000 copies, because he expects that in the case of two copies he can sell each copy for 10.000 dollar while in the case of ten copies he could sell them for 1.500, and in the case of 1000 for only 100 dollars each. (Instead he could also make an unlimited edition but he knows from experience that the overall return would probably be the same.) Comparing the second situation with the last he apparently expects a small group of 10 interested buyers to be willing to pay 1.400 dollar for exclusivity; and comparing the first and third situation he expects that at least two interest ed very rich buyers are willing to pay almost 10.000 dollars for a bit more exclusivity. Social scientist could also develop laboratory experiments to find out such willingness to pay, but the outcomes are likely to be less reliable.
/32. By buying art, anybody —and not only rich people— buys membership in not art-related circles, or he shows that he is no member of another circle. This cannot but also motivate people in their purchase of art objects and tickets, be it ever so little. When at age 16 Anna bought her first serious record, the first piano concert of Tchaikovsky, she was well aware that she distinguished herself. She now belonged to a family of art and, at least in this respect, she no longer belonged to the group of less cultured classmates, and the latter were aware of this. Anna felt slightly superior. Her purchase could partly be explained from this, but only partly; she also liked the piano concert which she had listened to in the local concert hall and she wanted to listen to it also at home. A mixed motivation can exist at all levels, and not only in the arts. As said, it is usually impossible to attach relative weights to a love of art and a love of exclusivity; or for that matter a love of cars and a love of belonging to elite not necessarily car-related groups. Justin Bieber not only likes and produces popular music —which, by the way, is pretty good— he also likes cars. But buying and owning some of the most expensive cars (among them two Lamborghinis) he also has joined various car related and not-car related very select groups, and he is bound to enjoy this. And maybe later in live he will start to like art and buy expensive artwork. Leonardo DiCaprio did so. Does he only love membership in elite groups or does he also love art. Maybe at first his love of art was limited but by doing he learned art and started to really love art.
/33. Rich people are less free than one may expect given their ample means. If they do not want to be freaks, they are obliged to buy and “have no choice” but to buy very expensive things: meals, watches, cars, art and so forth. Second, the marginal utility of expensive things may well go down and sooner than in the case of less expensive things.
Justin Bieber collects expensive cars. In an interview Bieber says that his second purchase of a Lamborghini had brought him hardly any additional pleasure. Instead of buying another Lamborghini Bieber could have bought a cheap and small Smart (a popular small car produced by Mercedes) and have enjoyed this. In that case he would have made a statement and have distinguished himself. This is what DiCaprio did when he bought a painting on Instagram: a cheap and supposedly cheesy painting by a at the time not yet well-known artist, Jean-Pierre Roy, costing him only 15.000 dollar —much and much less than the $1,2million he paid for his Dali painting. “I may officially belong to the Jet set, but I am not its victim. I have own preferences and therefore also belong to non-jet set groups.” I think he made a good choice. He probably liked the painting; and he loves art.
Distrust of Commerce and Commercialism (notes 1 – 51)
General remarks of chapter 5.
None so far.
Hostile Spheres
General remarks of sub-chapter Hostile Spheres.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (60)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/1.“To profit” can also refer to benefit from other things than money, like a higher reputation.
/2. Organizing behavior as if a market existed can apply to companies and administrations taking decisions as if a market existed. It encourages internal competition; it plays a role in decision making and it may lead to so-called market conform pricing. In our neo-liberal times, many “markets” are imagined.
Web-notes Section (61)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/3. As mentioned the art ethos can be said to be part of what (Boltanski & Thévenot, 1991) in their theory of justification call the inspired world (Inspirational Cité ). It can be said to oppose their market world (Market Cité).
/4. For Adorno the culture industry is not limited to popular art and can include parts of the serious arts, but in his examples he foremost point at popular music and Jazz. As a musicologist he regards jazz as inferior and “commercial” music.
Web-notes Section (62)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/5. Referring to (Baxandall 1972 [1988]) and (De Marchi & Van Miegroet, 1996) p.50, Velthuis (Velthuis, 2005) writes: Until the Italian Renaissance, and, in Northern Europe until the sixteenth century, painters were by and large considered artisans. Rather than being rewarded for his originality, an artist would execute the wishes of the church, the court, or a private commissioner who had hired him. In many cases, the iconographic program of a painting was invented by the patron rather than the artist himself.
/6. Artists can also receive commissions from non-art “shopkeepers” who sell from stock. Sometimes the latter first process the artworks, like publishers, who print manuscripts and scores. Moreover, various intermediate forms exist as in the case of dealers taking works in commission or writers and composers receiving copyrights. But in all case the final product is not commissioned by consumers.
/7. Several of his novels have a happy end which is pleasing for the privileged readership thanks to an altogether incredible fictional construction. Oliver Twist, unlike other kids with a similar history, is a naïve altogether sweet boy who later on turns out to have come from a rich good-willing family suggesting that in certain privileged families good character traits are inborn.
/8. In some other professions a similar conviction exists. Professionals then perceive commercialism as antithetical and corrosive to professionalism. Cf. (Hafferty, F. W. & Castellani, B, 2011). But given the extreme goodness of art the stakes are higher in the arts and so is the rejection of commercialism. Only religious professions are comparable.
Web-notes Section (63)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/9. As noted [*], every now and then there are exceptions: groups of artists making larger series for idealistic reasons.
Web-notes Section (64)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/10. One market failure is caused by monopolization. Somewhat unexpected the art theorists Adorno and Horkheimer —(Adorno & Horkheimer, 1991)— agree with the latter. Reading their text it turns out that they do not reject a market economy —almost on the contrary. What they reject, the same as many economists is monopolization. The difference with economists, who are into welfare economics, is that, as we have seen [61], they judge the monopolization by the culture industry and especially the media to be very wrong in a moral sense. Most economists mainly think in terms of prices that are too high, which leads to a sub-optimal allocation of goods.
/11. Welfare economics has been used by rare socialist and communist economists who much emphasize the necessity of market socialism or a centrally led economy. An example of the first is Abba Lerner and of the second the communist economist Oskar Lange. See (Stigler, 1945).
Disapproval and Covering Up of Commerce
General remarks of sub-chapter Disapproval and Covering Up of Commerce.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (65)
Web-notes
/12. The “incubation” process can make a difference. My former MA student, Mitja Del Bono, writes: “The production of an artwork…is a journey through inspirations, conception, choice of material and realization. Throughout these processes, time passes …and the artist gets attached to a work and finds it hard to give up a piece that represents much for him. But not all pieces represent as much.”
/13. Anna, indeed, hates that her “children”, her drawings, remain stored altogether invisible in portfolios in her studio. And when she sells a drawing in her studio to people she likes and trusts this makes her particularly happy. But at times the opposite applies. It happens that her dealer sends a customer to her studio who wants personal contact with the live artist, but, in her view, not just contact with her: it seems to her that by buying her work they want to also “buy” her and “devour” her. This is a situation she cannot handle and really dislikes. She would rather not meet such people, sell them her work, or otherwise let her dealer meet them and sell the drawing. (She, however, has colleagues who actually like playing along with the consumer as if it is a game. They, for instance, praise the customer for his interest, good choice and benevolence. But Anna does not like the game and is not good at it.
Web-notes Section (66)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/14. For instance, enjoying free art in public space is time consuming and “time is money”. Sometimes there are additional cost, like the cost of travel. The money could have been spent on other goods or activities costing money. Moreover, making financial comparisons is interesting or fun.
/15 Anna once —only once— had a solo exhibition in which during the first hour of the opening she sold all her drawings except one. The remaining work was sold shortly before the end of the opening. For buyers the portraits she draws are experienced as singulars par excellence. Usually they are interested in one portrait only, and in no other. The degree of singularity of her works is therefore high. As a consequence, for her costumers the interchangeability of the works in the mini-market on the day of the opening in the gallery is not high. But this did not apply to the last drawing that her dealer sold. It was bought by a couple who came late. Before they went to the dealer to buy the drawing, she could overhear their conversation: “…She appears to be an upcoming artist…It cannot be accidental that she sold all her work…Anyway it is the portrait of a young girl, and it is a drawing. This is what we were looking for… We may just as well buy this drawing. …” Anna did not at all like the conversation, she did not like the couple, and would rather not have sold the drawing to the couple.
/16. Given the outcome of the researches it is possible that the degree of correspondence in the visual arts was relatively high in the 1970s, and lower in 2000 to remain the same in the first decade of the 20th century. But at closer examination the data show that the correspondence in the 1970s was not that high, and not higher or lower than in 2010.
As an indicator of economic value, data from existing research on prices of works are used. As indicator of artistic value in all researches data from existing research on so-called institutional recognition is used with the exception of (Wuggenig & Rudolph, 2013). Their research is based on a study of behavior of consumers and interviews with experts.
Wuggenig and Rudolph also discuss the various researches, dispute the outcomes of the early researches for methodological reasons. They also discuss general limitation of the researches. They moreover discuss them from theoretical perspectives. Their own perspective is largely based on the theories of Bourdieu.
Web-notes Section (67)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/17. In web-text wt-19 I emphasize the difference between sponsor-money and donation, i.e. between sponsorship and philanthropy. It matters. The protesters could prove that the support was no philanthropy as the management had said but, given the contract, sponsorship, and that the amount received was actually very small compared with the publicity BP received in return. Later the management said that they terminated the contract because the payment was too low. No reference to the protests and the detrimental activities was made.
/18. In the same month she targeted New York's Guggenheim with a “performance” on the stairs which drew much attention in the media.
Web-notes Section (68)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
None
Commercialism and Dependence of Artists and Art-Companies on Demand, Sponsorship and Support.
General remarks of sub-chapter Commercialism and Dependence of Artists and Art-Companies on Demand, Sponsorship and Support.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (69)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/19. For instance, an artist who in his work only pursues own artistic goals, but otherwise makes every possible effort to make as much money as possible with his work, i.e. who is very commercial, may well, depending on one’s point of view, be said to compromise.
/20. Often artists are aware of the fact that they are influenced by others. While creating art, an artist, almost inevitably, imagines others with different demands or needs. They can be one or more individuals, like somebody who was present during a performance or opening, or who bought work or may potentially buy or order a work. Or he imagines a certain colleague, an expert/critic, a former teacher and so forth. He may also imagine people who he thinks learn or will learn from his work and its intended meanings. Cf. (Abbing, 2002).
Web-notes Section (70)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/21. In this they may be paternalistic. They then assume that their work is “good” for their imagined “users” —for instance, an disadvantaged group— while the addressed group of users does not agree.
/22. Anna remembers that not long after graduation when meeting with befriended young artists they regularly criticized and scolded a fellow ex-student, Adrian, who was becoming successful thanks to networking and making commercial work and thus selling out. At least that was their opinion. Only later —after she herself had become somewhat successful— she realized that Adrian may have been good in networking, but that the criticism of his work had been altogether unjustified. It was artistically very good work that sold well. Later again, she met Adrian and he told her that he had been aware of much criticism and that this had been painful.
Web-notes Section (71)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
None.
Web-notes Section (72)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/23. Given his wealth he could easily afford to spend a “fortune”. In 2019 his estimated net worth is $1 billion.
/24. The sociologist Pierre-Michel (Menger, 2001) and some art economists argue that contemporary artists select jobs as if it is a portfolio, somewhat comparable with a portfolio of shares and bonds. Simplifying much artists can be said to attempt to reduce future risks while maintaining a reasonable income.
/25. (Throsby, 1994), and later also other cultural economists, like Solhjell (2000) and (Rengers, 2002), empirically tested the theory and found that a work preference exists among the groups of artists they researched.
/26. As a visual artist Anna often worked with models, some of whom were dancers. When she told the models her rate most just said “Okay” or “Sorry, it’s too low; better find another.” But the dancers started to negotiate, told her how good they were, and so forth. The first time —this was with Philip and Aaron— Anna was shocked: the dancers appeared to be greedy. Five months later Philip and Aaron quit. They had received an advanced payment for a dance performance they developed and had lost interest in their second job and in Anna’s money. Anna knew that the project left them enough free time to continue modeling and, because, after all, they were very good models, she offered them more money, but unsuccessfully so. Since, thanks to the project, they earned enough to sustain themselves, rather than working as a model they wanted to spend every minute and cent they had on their own art work. But after the project was finished they came back to Anna to work again as a model, hoping for an even higher hourly remuneration. They were indeed greedy but now Anna knew that their greediness “served art”. A year after they had resumed modeling for Anna, they received a grant, but this time they continued modelling. Anna asked them why. They told her that they now needed all the money, of the grant as well as of Anna: they were saving to buy expensive video equipment and the services of a camera man to be able to give performances with a simultaneous projection of them dancing.
These young artists prefer own/autonomous art work to other attractive alternatives which the extra money could have enabled: for instance, going on a holiday, buying a car or having children. They made a real effort to earn as much as possible by “selling themselves” as good models. They were after money for-the-sake-of-art. At the same time, they did not mind to live cheaply to increase their overall artistic autonomous space. In other words, they did everything possible to push their “horizon of artistic opportunities” outward.
There is a natural limit to the realization of a true art work preference. Artists and art organization face a survival constraint. The artist and organization must at least stay alive. Therefore, as long as income is below a survival level, additional income will be used for more hours or more means for any activity that can raise overall income. Often this will not be the creation of autonomous art. In fact, may artists may well take a second job or start to work more hours in second jobs or make (more) commercial art, while and art-companies increase activities on the side. For the time being this is the only way to survive as artist and art-company.
Aside: The economist David Throsby, who in economics coined the term work preference, did systematic research showing that a certain kind of work preference exists among certain groups of artists. Later other scientists did the same. (That economists are interested in the phenomenon of a work preference is understandable. It runs counter to major assumptions in standard economics.) [(Throsby, 1994), Solhjell (2000) and (Rengers, 2002) found more hours spend by performers. Solhjell (2000) shows that among visual artists a work-preference can also result in higher spending on the art job.]
An above average work preference does not only exist among artists. It also exists among popular artists and probably in a lesser degree also in some non-art professions, like that of medical practitioners. There are, moreover, indications that over the last decades, the typical worker in the creative industries has an above average work preference, be it less so the typical (popular) artist.
Web-notes Section (73)
General remarks.
(73)a. On the basis of empirical research (Rengers, 2002) argues that in the Dutch situation of the late 1990s two distinct career paths of visual artists can be distinguished. One is the government career path and the other is the private career path. The art-world work that is mentioned in this section can be said to be government work, work that is sold in an imaginary government art market. Therefore distinguishing two career paths makes sense.I expect that in earlier decades the distinction would apply even better. (According to Rengers in the private market it takes more time to get established, while in both markets success breeds success.)
Web-notes Section (74)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/27. (Velthuis, 2012) argues that the choice of small format works is one of the last decades and can be explained from a commercialization in the visual arts.
/28. (Cyert & March, 2013) emphasize that continuity is an important goal of the managements of many companies. In the case of for-profit companies, it can be more important than making as much profit as possible.
/29. Many art-companies nowadays pursue and receive money from a large number of consumers which they offer various services “in return” for their donations. In the case of larger art institutions donors are organized in groups. Depending on the size and prestige of the companies the size of the donations differs. From $75 to $35.000 yearly.
In the case of the Metropolitan Opera there is a scheme of yearly donations of $. In the case of far less prestigious companies this is often around $1000. In schemes at lowest level donations are usually around $75 yearly.
For instance, at the moment the very prestigious Metropolitan Opera has ten different schemes. The extras run from ticket priority and special invitations to exclusive events and meetings and, at the highest-level scheme, personal attention. The schemes have different names: The International Council (for foreigners willing to pay at least $35.000 dollar yearly, Major Gift Donors (from $25.000 yearly), Patrons (from $2.500 yearly) and Guild Members, a group with seven subgroups with different benefits. In the latter group, contributions run from 1750 to 75 dollar yearly.
At the top also open “schemes” exist. For instance, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw has a commemorative fund. On its website it says: “A commemorative fund represents a very personal and special way to contribute to The Concertgebouw’s future by perpetuating a family name or honoring a loved one. With a commemorative fund, you can also designate a specific purpose for your contribution, thus providing the resources necessary to realize performances of the most outstanding string quartets, for example, or masterclasses for young musicians. Commemorative funds may be established starting at € 100,000.” “Perpetuating a family name or honoring a loved one” is, among others, enabled by having an imitation gold bar with one’s name on it piled up against a wall in a major corridor. Every now and then bars are added and so draw extra attention.
Distinction is a main return for donors. They “buy” memberships and distinction. Given parallel schemes “higher-up” donors cannot only distinguish themselves from non-donors but also from “lower’ donors. Symbolic and actual membership is a benefit that is clearly advertised and noticed by others.
To maintain income stemming from the small group of donors who participate in the top schemes, companies make an effort to keep them happy with impressive extras, like dinners with the management and important artists. Often donors, managers and artists also have contacts, if not friendships, in not art related contexts. Interests are such take their wishes into account.
But income from the lower level schemes can also be large. For the donors larger events are organized. An overall influence of lower-level donors is therefore likely. These donors have deep pockets, pockets that are deeper than those of average visitors but not that much deeper.
The cost of acquiring donations can be high but not so high that there is no net extra income. Nevertheless, an, often forgotten, considerable cost factor is the time spent on the acquisition of donations. In large art-companies there are now special departments for the acquisition.
There is also a need for very large donations by rich private people. And the managing director —often the same person as the artistic director— sometimes spends more than half of his time on the acquisition of large donations, i.e. time which is largely spend on small talk. Returns for very large donors are becoming ever more substantial. As noted in the main text, some donors, “buy” a position in the board of directors, and thus also buy influence. Companies are still somewhat secretive about this, but certainly less than only 10 years ago.
30. Presently the largest is Ticketmaster, which operates in many countries and is owned by the concert organizer Live Nations.
Web-notes Section (75)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/31. See web-text wt-19. (Only part of the web-text is now available. The remainder will be added in 2020.)
/32. In most countries various forms of a so-called arm’s length principal exist. It implies that governments decide on the overall size of the art budget and sometimes on some large sub-budgets, but that the actual distribution is done (at arm’s length) by legally independent organizations. In Britain, where the term arm’s length was first used, such a non-departmental public body exists. It started and is best known under the name Arts Council of Great Britain.* A similar organization in the US at the federal level is the National Endowment of the Arts which is an independent federal agency that started in 1965. Later similar foundations are established in other countries. The length of the arms differs. For instance, in France it is shorter than in the Netherlands and England.
(In 1994 the Arts Council of Great Britain is replaced by three separate councils; the Arts Councils of England, Scotland and Wales no longer exits. The Arts Councils are partly funded by the National Lottery but as argued in web-section 19, this is a form of indirect public funding.)
/33. This applies, for instance to the Dutch VSB foundation which in all phases of its existence supported art and cultural projects serving common people. In its earliest phase, which goes 200 hundred years back, its income stemmed from a collection of cooperating saving banks serving mostly common people.
/34. Committees granting the subsidies and later evaluating the observance of the conditions or promises often know that the reporting of the companies in forms is incorrect, but are lenient. Behind the scenes they agree that quality must come first, and that fulfilling other demands is not that important.
Web-notes Section (76)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/35. (Arjo Klamer, 2011) argues that an alertness on opportunities and the search for creative solutions —next to a willingness to take risks and to an ability to convince others is typical for the entrepreneurial logic of cultural entrepreneurs.
/36. For (Arjo Klamer, 2011) pure artistic values and goals are only a subset of cultural values and goals. For instance, the goal of offering under-privileged groups art which pleases them is a goal that corresponds with a cultural value. For him cultural values are spiritual, esthetic, and other values that convey a sense of meaningfulness to life.
/37. In his conversations with the directors of non-profit art organizations Arjo Klamer notices that they usually are not aware of having a mission. When asked to formulate a mission, it often does not correspond with the actual course of the non-profit. If the conversation is successful it may lead to “better” behavior, to “doing the right thing”, i.e. the tiltle of Klamer’s book. (A. Klamer, 2016)
Web-notes Section (77)
General remarks.
(77)a. According to (Alper & Wassall, 2006) 840: in the period 1940 till 2000 the income inequality in the USA is larger in the art profession than in other professions. Moreover, in this period the earnings inequality among artists has grown in a faster rate than among other professionals. Artists were also more likely to have total earnings of zero or less than the other professionals.
Web-notes
/38. They are partly blown up by emphasizing the differences in income. This somewhat devalues the argument.
/39. While some art theorists think that a financialization in the visual arts, which would be in line with the development of so-called finance capitalism at large, is increasing, this is not the case. Art is just as bad and good investment object as it has always been. Uncertainty is large, and buyers know this. High prices need another explanation. Since the 1980s the visual art market is a booming market and one explanatory factor is supposed to be a more calculated and gain-oriented behavior among sellers and buyers. But in the 1990s and during the period of serious art the market has known similar periods during which it booms, and (corrected for inflation) not less so than over the last decade. Cf. (Velthuis, 2016)
Web-notes Section (78)
General remarks.
(78)a. Enrichment by advertisement can indirectly serve an increase or maintenance of support. For instance, the common advertising in public space of “excellent” operas and classical music performances is unlikely to increase the number of visitors. Maybe it increases the willingness to pay for the concerts. However, the main explanation probably rests in a “being present” in public space. The effect can be the maintenance of goodwill among the population. They are reminded of the top companies and their buildings and are proud of them. This increases the willingness of governments and donors to support them or it prevents cuts. As noted, where there are major subsidy cuts the top companies are usually spared.
An example of the promotion of public presence is that of the much-advertised performance of fragments from Stockhausen’s opera Licht in Amsterdam in 2019. Part of the performance were string quartets flying through the air in helicopters, i.e. through public space and noticeable by many who would never go to the performance itself.4
(78)b. To the remark that the performance of film music, like that of John Williams and Hans Zimmer, starts to be promoted can be added that now the same applies to some game music in the classical tradition. As my ex-student Yoonjung Kang states: “An outstanding example is Video Games Live (videogameslive.com), which is currently one of the most successful concerts in the world.”
(78)c. In line with the general reasoning in this book one may argue that the result of enrichment is a new artwork; the “wrapping” is part of the final artwork. If one were to go along with this kind of reasoning, most of the time the artist (or primary artist) does not take responsibility for the final artwork. (If he is dead this is anyway not possible.)
Web-notes
/40. The activities of marketeers are not unimportant in classical/serious music. For instance, already for decades the designers of classical/serious music labels position format-filling pictures on the covers of LPs and CD of the faces of female soloists which emphasize the “femaleness” of the singer. This way they make both the singer and the music sexy. On the other hand, in their pictures the faces of conductors usually express seriousness or an inward preoccupation, making the music more serious and “deeper”. Both are expected to promote sales. (The combination of music and erotic feelings is not that special. Anna has erotic feelings listening to James Bay, and, as said, Anna’s father once told her that he had such feelings while listening to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.)
/41. The French Louvre and the Dutch Rijksmuseum bought the paintings together. The French government paid another 80 million. The remaining 20 million came from regular purchase budgets and from donors. The paintings are two full-length portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit, painted shortly before their wedding in 1634.
/42. Among them was work by the Dutch artist Jan Dibbits. By now they will show work of Marlene Dumas who is Dutch and from South-African origin.
/43. The justification is another: it prevents works disappearing from a country’s public domain; or worldwide from the public domain by ending up in private collections that are not exhibited. (In the long run most famous works in private collections return in the public domain be it sometimes in altogether different countries —like, in the future, the Emirates.)
/44. According to Eric William Lin, in the case of the New York Philharmonic which performs relatively many new works, still only around 20% is by living composers, and of these works only 30% is performed more than one time. Of all performances of the orchestra only 10% are repeat performance. See: https://ericwilliamlin.com/NYPhil_data_viz/ accessed 21/5/2019.
/45. In interviews Richter mentions as one of his reasons for re-composing works of old the need to keep tradition alive and, as he says, not in a sanctified museum setting. At the moment (2017) one can listen to and watch a recording of a live performance of Richter’s re-composition of Vivaldi’s work on YouTube.
/46. People with high and very high incomes often justify the height of their income by saying it is deserved. The neo-liberal and meritocratic ideology is so influential that many people with low incomes agree. Market conditions cause some incomes to be high, but in terms of efforts and creativity, those who enjoy them do not really perform better than many with much lower and even very low incomes. Moreover, by now the increasingly unequal distribution of income and wealth starts to threaten the sustainability of societies, if not the planet. To solve problems a very progressive income and wealth as well as inheritance tax is called for. There is nothing wrong with voluntary charity, but it is altogether insufficient and obscures that high incomes are unjustified.
Web-notes Section (79)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
None
Web-notes Section (80)
General remarks.
(80)a. Over the last decade the phenomenon of enriching and blowing up of the own brand and products by large and larger art companies has increased much.
(80)b. As already mentioned in web-note dm, advertisement can indirectly serve an increase or maintenance of support. (For instance, the common advertising in public space of “excellent” operas and classical music performances is unlikely to increase the number of visitors. Maybe it increases the willingness to pay for the concerts. However, the main explanation probably rests in a “being present” in public space. The effect can be the maintenance of goodwill among the population. They are reminded of the top companies and their buildings and are proud of them. This increases the willingness of governments and donors to support them or it prevents cuts. As noted, where there are major subsidy cuts the top companies are usually spared.
An example of the promotion of public presence is that of the much-advertised performance of fragments from Stockhausen’s opera Licht in Amsterdam in 2019. Part of the performance were string quartets flying through the air in helicopters, i.e. through public space and noticeable by many who would never go to the performance itself.5)
(80)c. Warhol is a good example of someone who deliberately branded himself and created, what can be called, the Warhol celebrity brand. (Kerrigan, Brownlie, Hewer, & Daza-LeTouze, 2011) 1515 argue that Warhol was successful partly because he managed to combine a celebrity brand attitude and a quirk of disinterestedness.
(80)d. Well-known artists endorsing non-art products, like the actors Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio who endorsed Tag Heuer watches, represent a case of double-sided branding. Being mentioned in advertisements of the non-art-company the artist increases his own presence in the media, while on a minor or major scale the non-art-company incorporates the artist in its own brand. —This can also be said to be a form of sponsoring; the purchase of specific advertisement possibilities from an artist.— Either way the perception of the artist and his work will change.
In a celebrity culture and a further “celebrization” it can expected that past and living artists’ names will more often be used for branding non-art products thus adding to the winner take all mechanism ( ***).
(80)e. For instance, Citroen has already used the name Picasso for successive models. (Presently it is the “Citroën Xsara Picasso”. The Picasso family licensed the name for a considerable amount of money. Not all family members agreed. In the case of Citroen, the use of the name makes some sense as Picasso once painted a Citroen.)
Web-notes
/47. Nevertheless, during the period of serious art female soloists continue to be advertised or even branded as physically attractive, as shows from the covers of many LPs. Male soloists and conductors on the other hand have inward-directed looks which, in a different way, makes them attractive.
/48. This is no longer done. Maybe by now, given the somewhat fading boundaries, it has become important again to emphasize that, after all, serious art is no popular art?
/49. Not only managed the visual artist Jeff Koons to let his name become a brand name; he also sees to it that his name is not used for free. As noted, among others, he licenses the production of copies of his works with a reference to his name, and he sues people for the selling of copies which are supposedly illegitimate. He is not afraid of suing them: sometimes with the effect of losing the case and having to pay for cost. (Because much money can be involved such law cases are common in the case of famous popular musicians. Recently the Marvin Gaye estate sued Ed Sheeran for $100 million for supposed copy right infringement. At this moment the outcome of the case is unknown.)
Web-notes Section (81)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/50. As mentioned, I use the term “meaningful in the sense of “very significant and full of meaning for a person or group” and not in the much broader sense of “signifying something”, like for instance facial expressions do.
/51. Other extreme examples of box office flops are 47 Ronin (2013) and The thirteenth warrior (1999), while there are many slightly less extreme example. The same happens even more regularly in the case of releases of new songs and publication of new books by already very famous artists. —Examples are the much promoted releases of Madonna’s album Rebel Heart album (2015) or Lady Gaga’s album Artpop (2013). And a well-known example in literature is the flop of Donna Tart’s second book The little friend (2002) which succeeded her very successful The secret history.
Sharing Art (notes 1 – 23)
General remarks of chapter 6.
None so far.
Increased Sharing
General remarks of sub-chapter Increased Sharing.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (82)
General remarks.
(82)a. Sorry; the heading of the section contains an annoying mistake. TWENTIETH CENTURY must be TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.
(82)b. In the context of social critical art created and consumed by lower and marginalized groups, it must be noted that in different degrees such art gives such groups voice. As Wes Moore —a black author— writes in an essay in 2012 Discovering Wes Moore, while referring to the 1980s: “I found hip-hop the sound of my generation talking to itself, working through its fears and anxieties and dreams —of wealth or power or revolution or success— we all shared.6 Music was a way to broadcast what was going on in our world to the rest of the world. [HA = voice] It made us feel less alone in the madness of the era, less pushed to the margins.”
Web-notes
/1. One may, however, argue that foreigners should be included. That is, if the number of visits of the own population to art museums in other countries is (more or less) the same as the number of visits of foreigners to art museums in the own country.
Web-notes Section (83)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (84)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes Section (85)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/2. Part of the lyrics are about Black people’s problems. (Another about dicks, bitches, and so forth.) As Anna recently noticed: the young white audiences are far more focused on the music and visual performance than during an average pop concert. —Almost no texting.— The concerts accompanied with much bodily movement are apparently important for them. But the lyrics get lost. Also socially engaged intermittent spoken text does not appear to get much attention. (It is however possible that listening at home there is more attention for the lyrics.)
Web-notes Section (86)
General remarks.
(86)a Typical for the conservative classical music art-world is that it does not promote the own music on platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Soundcloud. It anyway prefers to maintain the existing distinction with popular music as shows from the phenomenon that there were attempts to establish own streaming platforms but unsuccessfully.
Web-notes
/3. See Web-texts 82 and 83. (Web-text 82 on the decline of the serious arts will be added in early 2020.)
/4. In 2017 one of these is included in the Booker longlist: Sabrina by Nick Drnaso. This and comparable novels, like Winterhart’s Days of the Bagnold Summer. These are novels that are read by both higher and lower educated people.
/5. This is the outcome of research done by several of my MA students. For instance, Mark van Hooijdonk did research on electronic music genres, and Thomas Ruitenbeek on games genres. (Van Hooijdonk —http://www.scriptiesonline.uba.uva.nl/document/341151— in Dutch, and Ruitenbeek —http://www.scriptiesonline.uba.uva.nl/document/644975— in English.)
/6. As late as 1996 Norman Lebrecht, who is a well-known expert on serious music, published a book which exclusively treats this kind of music —(Lebrecht, 1996). Probably being advised by the publisher, the title of the book in the English edition is When the music stops, assuming that all readers know that real music is classical/serious. But the title in the US edition is Who killed classical music. (#The US title is, moreover. accusatory, while the English title is not. It is more “civilized”.)
Web-notes Section (87)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/7. The same applies to the music streaming platforms Spotify and i-Tunes.
Less Exclusive
General remarks of sub-chapter Less Exclusive.
(86)a. In Section 92 I write “With the internet and social media, several symbolic and social boundaries become ever fuzzier.” An interesting phenomenon in this context is so-called “fan-art”, i.e. art produced by fans in, usually, social media. This is part of the larger phenomenon of so called “fandom”. Cf. (Fiske, 2002) (Thanks Liu Mingzhu; my ex master student)
(68)b. As (Bickerdike, 2016) argues in the abstract of her book: “Media pilgrimage has become a booming business in the 21st century. Fans of television shows, rock groups and books flock to places associated with their favorite series, artist or writer, trying to embody and perhaps understand what inspired the beloved piece of work, and, more importantly, to cobble together their own personal identity, seeking meaning in an ever–more divergent and fast-paced world. At the same time, participation in organized group activities are dropping.” It, however, appears that at present art institutions are developing counter activities, leading to a heritage art “tourism” and contemporary art “tourism”.
c. It can be argued —as some of my students do— that in the user-oriented domain successful museums are “free riding” on the success of popular art outside art-buildings.
Web-notes Section (88)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/8. It can be argued that this development is part of a long-term process of increasing interdependence that covers centuries. Cf. (Elias, 1994).
/9. Art and culture become organized within large networks in which, among others, (local) administrators and art-world participants take part. The outcome is an organized culture; that is, a culture that is organized without being orchestrated. No single institution “manages” this culture. Many groups have a say in organized culture, from shopkeepers to police. (Cf. (Bevers, 1990) (in Dutch). Bevers book treats, what he calls, “the convergences of government, market and art-worlds.” In organized culture international cultural competition is important: cf. (Bevers, Colenbrander, Heilbron, & Wilterdink, 2015) (in Dutch).
Web-notes Section (89)
General remarks.
(89)a. The section is now accompanied by a web-text (Wt-89) treating “The ongoing modernization in the User-oriented domain in the established arts.” (This web-text will be written and inserted in 2020.)
Web-notes
/10. Nevertheless, in Europe, in the more prestigious traditional concert halls and opera houses still no standard pop concerts are offered. Theatres (The acoustics are not ideal but this did not stop bands from performing together with orchestras.) Other than one may have expected opening up the prestigious buildings to popular music —not accompanied by traditional orchestras— is still threatening, and more so than having orchestras accompany pop musicians and DJs, as is becoming common.
Web-notes Section (90)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/11. In 2018 in Rotterdam this was reported by the chairman of the Arts Council.
/12. Interesting are changes in the top of the visual art market between 2002 and 2017. See https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-broke-artreviews-power-100-race-gender-profession-place-birth?utm_medium=email&utm_source=1114469… 7/7.
/13. Celluloid Ceiling reports that in 2018 8% of directors of the 250 highest-grossing Hollywood films were women and twenty years earlier, i.e. in 1998, 9%.
/14. In the case of countries with a not widely spoken language, like the Netherlands, this is somewhat understandable. Nevertheless, also in the Netherlands very good black actors exist, but it is only in 2017 that a major Dutch ensemble stages a really black Otello. It is a “secondary” company: Het Nationale Theater.
/15. First, recently the Met and some other opera companies have stopped “blackfacing” white Otellos. They no longer hide that the singer is not black. Second, as noted not wanting to amplify brings along extreme demands on singers. Third, it is argued that given existing standards at the moment no colored non-lyric tenor is good enough to perform the role in the Otello performances of the top opera companies. but that this may change with more training.
/16. Also after 2000 buyers of visual artworks at auctions pay less for the works of female artists, i.e. circa 20% less, which is not as much as before 2000 —(Adams, Kräussl, Navone, & Verwijmeren, 2017). This is comparable with underpayment in other sectors of production.
/17. Recently conductor Vasily Petrenko claimed in an interview that those ‘”sweet things” couldn’t be trusted on the podium; they had too much “sexual energy” to focus on the music and couldn’t “devote” themselves to such a career. According to Yuri Temirkanov “the essence of woman is weakness”, while the director of the Paris Conservatoire Bruno Mantovani claimed that women simply didn’t have the physical strength and needed to bring up children.
Web-notes Section (91)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/18. An example is the Dutch subsidy scheme, the “Kunstkoop Regeling”.— The goal is not only to persuade people to start to buy visual art, but also to raise the income of artists of whom many are poor. Evaluation shows that in both respects the scheme is largely unsuccessful. Sales somewhat increase but almost exclusively because already well-to-do young people start to buy works at a younger age. (Others do not start to buy works or increase their purchase of works. Those who already bought works have thanks to the subsidy an income advantage. The subsidy partly ends up in the pockets of well-to-do buyers.) (An exception is subsidized art-lending by, usually local, art institutions. Here a less well-to-do clientele also profits.)
/19. In economics also other definitions of price differentiation exist. These are not relevant in the context of this section.
/20. Ultimately price differentiation is also a form of product differentiation. The management can only ask different prices for the various balconies in a theatre or for different seating areas in the concert halls, if the product offered is slightly different; from a better sound quality or view on the stage to being among a slightly different social group, that is, to be among the own group and to be able to express one’s societal status.
/21. By price differentiation and having different prices the, what economist call, consumer surplus which would be forgone in the case of one price, is partly collected. Overall returns can go up.
/22. First, when successful, PWYW on a large scale could lead to de-marketization in the arts and an extension of art in public space. Second, Pay-as-you-want pricing for museums and art performances could be a powerful means for inclusion. I have the impression that the system could be much better advertised within and outside the art-buildings. But so far this appears to be judged as “commercial” and “uncivilized”. On a much larger scale and promoted by governments (giving earmarked subsidies) with time the system could become financially successful. Consumers have to get used to donating. (To include more people, local governments could temporarily or permanently give earmarked subsidies to institutions who advertise the system among low income groups.) Thirdly, thanks to voluntary price differentiation the what economist call consumer surplus which would be forgone in the case of one price, is partly collected by having different prices but it is not enough to compensate for “underpayment”.
Web-notes Section (92)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-notes
/23. Anna likes watching Tom Jones in the Voice UK program with its blind auditions. He must have been chosen for his fame, but probably also for his background. He is a clumsy actor. Being the son of a Welsh miner, his background is very much working class. Tom Jones is an old favorite of her. She likes his voice and his clumsy acting on stage. In 1963 she saw him perform in a workingmen club in Evesham, when he was still altogether unknown, and talked with him. Ever since, she has listened to his music and remained fan (also without ever having hurled her knickers).
Conclusion (notes 1 – 2)
Web-notes Section (93)
General remarks.
So far none.
Web-notes Section (94)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-note
/1. Markets are associated with capitalism. In the book I occasionally refer to stages of capitalism and their impact on art and artist. I did not and will not discuss the badness or goodness of capitalism. (It would go far beyond the discussion of art markets the arts. Nevertheless, in the context of a dangerously increasing overall inequality in wealth and wasteful consumption endangering the future of human society on the planet a serious discussion of forms of capitalism is called for. Not markets and commerce in the arts or even a music industry or Hollywood being after profit are the problem. Instead, among others, corporate greed and incompetent and corrupt regulators represent a major problem.
Web-notes Section (95)
General remarks.
None so far.
Web-note
/2. First, even though the overall number of participants or buyers is small, sponsoring is attractive because the institutions are very well-known in society. Among others marketeers see to this. Second, if there is insufficient other income, subsidies for excellent art can be justified because it can help in the economic and cultural competition between countries. If this is judged to be the case subsidies should come from the ministries of economic and foreign affairs.
(/3. Mistake. No web-note.)
Literature mentioned in the web-notes.
See the literature list of both the printed book and the texts on the website. This list can be accessed through a top menu item of this website.
Ex-prisoner’s remixed Othello targets new audiences - Comedy Feed - Comedy News.html
Abdella, F. (1989, August 13). As Pitch in Opera Rises, So Does Debate. The New York Times, pp.12–-. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/nyregion/as-pitch-in-operarises-so-does-debate.html
Wes Moore, Discovering Wes Moore, 2012