Talking prices : symbolic meanings of prices on the market for contemporary art

284 Pages·2007·4.38 MB·English

by  Velthuis

Talking Prices
princeton studies in cultural sociology
Paul J. DiMaggio, Michèle Lamont, Robert J. Wuthnow,
Viviana A. Zelizer
A list of titles in the series appears at the back of the book
Talking Prices
Symbolic Meanings of Prices on
the Market for Contemporary Art
Olav Velthuis
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Copyright © 2005 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place, Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1SY
All Rights Reserved
Fourth printing, and first paperback printing, 2007
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-691-13403-1
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition of this book as follows
Velthuis, Olav, 1972–
Talking prices : symbolic meanings of prices on the market for contemporary art/
Olav Velthuis.
p. cm.—(Princeton studies in cultural sociology)
Revision of the author’s thesis (Ph. D.—Erasmus University, Rotterdam).
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-691-12166-4 (cl. : alk. paper)
1. Art, Modern—20th century—Prices—New York (State)—New York. 2. Art,
Modern—20th century—Prices—Netherlands—Amsterdam. 3. Pricing—Social
aspects—New York (State)—New York. 4. Pricing—Social aspects—Netherlands—
Amsterdam. 5. Art dealers—Psychology. I. Title. II. Series.
N6490.V375 2005
381'.457—dc22 2004051062
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Sabon
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4
Broer did not want to be an accountant. Later, when he was
writing art criticism, people blamed him for using the words
“indescribable” and “priceless” so often. “Those two words
may be bad style,” he would defend himself, “but they are
good aesthetics. I used to have a father who was haggling
perpetually. I hated his ceaseless thrift. The same hatred I
now feel for the smooth operators who have words for
anything. As a boy, I used to long for things that cannot be
converted into whatever you like, that cannot be melted into
air by money or words, things that are inviolable, insoluble,
and now I have found them, in the world of art. To me
‘beautiful’ is synonymous with ‘genuine.’ And if I nowadays
come across something that is nothing other than itself, that
is real, Ihonor it by saying ‘indescribable’ or ‘priceless’; thus,
so to speak, I keep my mouth shut.”
—Frans Kellendonk, Mystiek Lichaam