Ready to plunge into the depths of art history to resurface with weird art fair histories from Prehistory, the Aztecs to today? Which is a way of asking: is the compulsion to buy rare goods and exemplary artefacts immemorial? How have we evolved into the format of the art fair?
Art fairs seem to defy romantic visions of creativity: artists: the art wonderment necessary to free oneself from conventional ideas and dusty traditions while reinventing them. Art works require freedom, Their art etiquette can puzzle: selling art works feels deeply contradictory with the creativity and meditative explorations that we expect from our contemporary artists.
You wouldn’t leave your favourite coffee shop, flat white in hand, without paying for it, would you?
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Read the article by Christian Monger The Evolution of the Art Fair: https://www.jstor.org/stable/0671e890-72d2-323b-964e-767f655980fe?seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents
Visit the page about The Birth of the Art Market: Rembrandt, Ruisdael and Van Goyen and the Artists of the Dutch Golden Age: https://www.codart.nl/guide/agenda/birth-art-market-rembrandt-ruisdael-van-goyen-artists-dutch-golden-age/
Caroline Monnet's website: https://carolinemonnet.ca and gallery page: https://blouin-division.com/en/artists/34-caroline-monnet/overview/
The Venus de Renancourt (the Amiens Museum Prehistory female figurines): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vénus_de_Renancourt (FR)
00:00 Intro: Is Art Compatible with its Market?
01:39 Common reactions to art fairs
03:44 The Purity Obligation of Art
06:39 Art fairs and political art
17:46 Weird history of art fairs
39:26 Contemporary art fairs, galleries, art advisors and the artist