Art History

The purpose of the Course is to examine and deeply know the artistic heritage by understanding and study the art market of the western areas. The study of art market has gained remarkable momentum in recent years, and its history and present state has attracted increasing attention in academic disciplines as diverse as art history, economics, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies. The growing interest in the provenance of cultural artefacts has further strengthened the consensus that the trade plays a significant role in the history of art, and new technologies have given a strong support as new data (auction prices, gallery archives, dealers’ networks or artist’s career trajectories) become available online. Therefore the aim of the course is to study the history of the art market and its present state and to encourage students to work on a field already on the rise in many international academic and museal institutions (Birmingham, Essex, Rotterdam, The Frick Collection, Getty Resarch Institute).