Using the economic perspective, this exciting text offers an alternative view to sociological or art historic approaches to art. The issues discussed include: institutions from festivals to "superstar" museums, different means of supporting the arts, an investigation into art as an investment, and the various approaches applied when valuing our cultural properties. This text challenges widely held popular views and, once started, is difficult to put down.

Inhalt

I Combining Art and Economics.- 1 - Economics of Art: A Personal Survey.- 2 - Art: The Economic Point of View.- II Museums and Performing Arts.- 3 - For Art's Sake - Open Up the Vaults.- 4 - Superstar Museums.- 5 - Special Exhibitions and Festivals: Culture's Booming Path to Glory.- 6 - Private Faces in Public Places: A Case Study of the New Beyeler Art Museum.- III Supporting the Arts.- 7 - How Can the Arts Be Publicly Promoted?.- 8 - Public Support for the Arts in a Direct Democracy.- 9 - Creativity, Government and the Arts.- IV Art Investment and Evaluation.- 10 - Art Investment Returns.- 11 - Evaluating Cultural Property.- 12 - Art Fakes - What Fakes?.- References.- Index of Names & Authors.