ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the latest developments in the relatively new discipline of arts marketing. It is located within the larger framework of cultural production and consumption; however, its main focus is on marketing in the context of art. The relationship between art and the market is a complex one, which means that arts marketers need to pay attention to a range of issues which may not arise in the same way, or to the same degree, in conventional product marketing. Within Western culture, these issues are longstanding and have to do with notions of art and the artist. Most readers should be already familiar with various defi nitions of marketing, though, there are very few concepts as controversial and vague as art. It has provoked numerous and heated discussions among philosophers, from Socrates’ view of ‘art as mirror held up to nature ’ ( Danto, 1964 , p. 571), through famous Andy Warhol’s poster ‘art is what you can get away with ’, to Morris Weitz’s argument that art cannot be defi ned as it is an open concept. Throughout over two thousand years, many have attempted to answer the question: what is art? In consequence, defi nitions of art have been conditioned by their authors ’ aesthetic preferences, culture, current debates and the development of art itself. Thus countless of these defi nitions have failed the test of time. This chapter therefore starts with an attempt to clarify what is meant by art and artist by exploring how understanding of both concepts has changed throughout history. We then outline two main approaches to arts marketing, offering very different conceptualizations of it. It is followed by an overview of some of the most important aspects of arts marketing, discussing issues such as the characteristics of the artworld
as an industry and the production and consumption of art in our society. The chapter concludes with some observations on the relationship between art and brands, and the role of arts marketer.
