The Global Rules of Art - (Princeton Studies in Global and Comparative Sociology) by Larissa Buchholz (Paperback)

About the Book

"Prior to the 1980s, the postwar canon of "international" contemporary art was made up almost exclusively of artists from North America and Western Europe, while cultural agents from other parts of the world often found themselves on the margins. The Global Rules of Art examines how this discriminatory situation has changed in recent decades. Drawing from abundant sources--including objective indicators from more than one hundred countries, multiple institutional histories and discourses, extensive fieldwork, and interviews with artists, critics, curators, gallerists, and auction house agents--Larissa Buchholz examines the emergence of a world-spanning art field whose logics have increasingly become defined in global terms. Deftly blending comprehensive historical analyses with illuminating case studies, The Global Rules of Art breaks new ground in its exploration of valuation and how cultural hierarchies take shape in a global context. The book's innovative global field approach will appeal to scholars in the sociology of art, cultural and economic sociology, interdisciplinary global studies, and anyone interested in the dynamics of global art and culture."--Page [4] of cover.

Book Synopsis

A trailblazing look at the historical emergence of a global field in contemporary art and the diverse ways artists become valued worldwide

Prior to the 1980s, the postwar canon of "international" contemporary art was made up almost exclusively of artists from North America and Western Europe, while cultural agents from other parts of the world often found themselves on the margins. The Global Rules of Art examines how this discriminatory situation has changed in recent decades. Drawing from abundant sources--including objective indicators from more than one hundred countries, multiple institutional histories and discourses, extensive fieldwork, and interviews with artists, critics, curators, gallerists, and auction house agents--Larissa Buchholz examines the emergence of a world-spanning art field whose logics have increasingly become defined in global terms.

Deftly blending comprehensive historical analyses with illuminating case studies, The Global Rules of Art breaks new ground in its exploration of valuation and how cultural hierarchies take shape in a global context. The book's innovative global field approach will appeal to scholars in the sociology of art, cultural and economic sociology, interdisciplinary global studies, and anyone interested in the dynamics of global art and culture.

Review Quotes

"The Global Rules of Art provides a benchmark for research in this area and an example of institutional analysis at its most compelling. It will stand as the fundamental contribution to this field for years to come."---Paul DiMaggio, Administrative Science Quarterly

"An exceptionally clearly and logically written book. [The Global Rules of Art] will certainly be an obligatory reference point for a long time, inside and outside of sociology, for those who are interested in contemporary art, artistic globalization, and neo-Bourdieusian studies of cultural production."---David Inglis, Contemporary Sociology

"As Dominic Lopes has argued, our philosophical models and arguments need to be consistent with the best work in the empirical sciences. Larissa Buchholz's sociological exploration of the emergence of a global art feld should appeal to aestheticians not only for its comprehensiveness and carefully documented research, but also for its theoretical sophistication."---Larry Shiner, British Journal of Aesthetics

"Winner of the International Book Award for Art"

"An amazingly rich study, with a high level of density, complexity, and nuance, a reference book for now and future generations."---Kitty Zijlmans, 21: Inquiries into Art, History, and the Visual

"Larissa Buchholz has written a magnificent account of the Global art market over the last half century. The book combines extensive, and highly nuanced, discussion of a wide range of relevant cultural theories, with an enormous amount of wonderfully researched data and studies of the Global art market and the relevant personnel including artists, curators, gallerists, art critics, art purchasers, and museum personnel. As a result, the book is an empirical and theoretical treasure."---David Halle, Social Forces

About the Author

Larissa Buchholz is an award-winning sociologist whose work centers on the dynamics of artistic production and art markets within a global context. She is also interested in broader questions of global theorizing, particularly regarding advancements in transnational/global field theory. In addition to a PhD in sociology from Columbia University, Buchholz's education encompasses art history, philosophy, media studies, and anthropology. She is assistant professor at Northwestern University and faculty fellow at the Critical Realism Network at Yale University. She was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, the first woman elected from her discipline. Her work has garnered several awards, including Columbia University's Robert K. Merton Award, the ISA Junior Theorist Prize, and the ASA Junior Theorist Award, among others.