TY  - JOUR
AU  - Galenson,David W.
TI  - Masterpieces and Markets: Why the Most Famous Modern Paintings Are Not by American Artists
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8549
PY  - 2001
Y2  - October 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8549
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8549.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David Galenson
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
1126 East 59th Street
Chicago, IL  60637
Tel: 773/702-8258
Fax: 773/702-8490
E-Mail: galenson@uchicago.edu
AB  - A survey of the illustrations in art history textbooks reveals that the most important modern American painters, including Pollock, Johns, and Warhol, failed to produce individual paintings as famous as the masterpieces of a number of major French artists, such as Picasso, Manet, and Seurat.  Analysis of the textbooks reveals that art historians do not consider the American artists to be less important than their French predecessors, or judge the Americans' innovations to be less important.  The absence of American masterpieces instead appears to be a consequence of market conditions, as changes over time in the primary methods of showing and selling fine art reduced the incentive for artists to produce important individual works.
ER  -