Dimensions of the American Art Market
Chapter 2 discusses the long evolution of the market for American art in a brief synopsis of key developments along the way. It explains the early marketing of American art, the romance of collectors with Old Masters, the shift in art education of Americans to Europe (especially Paris and Munich) and the ultimate development of a “unique” American art at the turn of the nineteenth century—involving the mix of European modernism with American influences of the “ashcan” artists and the American modernism sponsored by Alfred Stieglitz. Finally, the shift from pre–World War II art to abstract expressionism and contemporary styles is explained as the result of politics in the postwar period. The chapter includes dichotomized lists of eighty prominent American artists—those born prior to 1900 and those born 1900 through 1960.