Fixing the Contemporary Art Auction Crisis Pt. 2 – artmarketblog.com In my last post I detailed two definitions of contemporary art from two different contemporary art museums that challenge the rather inadequate and misleading definition of contemporary art
News-Antique.com - Dec 04,2010 - Fixing the Contemporary Art Auction Crisis Pt. 2 – artmarketblog.com
In my last post I detailed two definitions of contemporary art from two different contemporary art museums that challenge the rather inadequate and misleading definition of contemporary art that many auction houses seem to abide by. Even though I had found two good museum definitions of contemporary art, I continued my search to see what else I could find. And I am glad I did continue searching because I came across a particularly interesting definition of contemporary art provided by the Tate Museum. According to the Tate, contemporary art is a:
“Term loosely used to denote art of the present day and of the relatively recent past, of an innovatory or avant-garde nature. In relation to contemporary art museums, the date of origin for the term contemporary art varies. The Institute of Contemporary Art in London, founded in 1947, champions art from that year onwards. Whereas The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York chooses the later date of 1977. In the 1980s, Tate planned a Museum of Contemporary Art in which contemporary art was defined as art of the past ten years on a rolling basis”.
This definition is somewhat misleading because it lists the date range of two Contemporary art museums, the Institute of Contemporary Art in London and the The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, as though these museums define contemporary art by these date ranges. What I found was that the beginning of the date range of works in the collections of both these museums is in fact the year that each museum was founded. So, the Museum is not defining contemporary art as work produced from the year each museum was founded, but is in fact just maintaining a collection that is partly historical and archival even though their focus is on work that is new and experimental. What interested me most about the Tate definition of Contemporary art is the revelation that “In the 1980s, Tate planned a Museum of Contemporary Art in which contemporary art was defined as art of the past ten years on a rolling basis”. I personally think that this definition of contemporary art is the most accurate and sensible that I have come across and is the definition of contemporary art that the art auction houses should be abiding by. Continuing with the museum definition theme, I think that the Getty museum provides one of the most blunt and profound definitions of contemporary art on their website which states that “Strictly speaking, the term “contemporary art” refers to art made and produced by artists living today”. Here, Here !!!.
So, what does this mean for the art market, I hear you ask. Well, let’s take a look at the results of a recent contemporary art auction held by an auction house that I will not be naming. The reason I am not going to name the auction house is that there is not just one
