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Culture, Commerce and Value: The Contemporary South African Fine Art Market in Relation to Concepts of Artistic and Financial Success
In this study I investigate two main premises: firstly that art intermediaries are imperative in value creation in an artist's career, and secondly that high prices are used as a way to justify, measure or reflect an artist's “importance”. The motives for these investigations are, firstl...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | Eng |
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Michaelis School of Fine Art
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613194524033024 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | le Clus-Theron, Jean |
| author2 | Lamprecht, Andrew |
| author_browse | Lamprecht, Andrew le Clus-Theron, Jean |
| author_facet | Lamprecht, Andrew le Clus-Theron, Jean |
| author_sort | le Clus-Theron, Jean |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | In this study I investigate two main premises: firstly that art intermediaries are imperative in value creation in an artist's career, and secondly that high prices are used as a way to justify, measure or reflect an artist's “importance”. The motives for these investigations are, firstly, that there would seem to be insufficient academic research on these notions in the South African art scene, and secondly, the existence of a counter argument, namely, that the high prices attained on the art market may be deemed arbitrary and irrational. This study investigates the South African contemporary fine art scene along with the role of South African art intermediaries and their perceptions on ideas of “importance” and “success”, using two case studies. These case studies comprise the career trajectories of two living artists residing in South Africa, who compared to all other living artists residing in South Africa, have attained the highest prices in their careers for work on auction, namely, William Kentridge and Dylan Lewis. In this study twenty-six intermediaries were interviewed and the ensuing data used to investigate how these and other intermediaries influence perceptions of the importance and success of these artists' work. This dissertation incorporates Pierre Bourdieu's theory of field, capital and distinction, and uses Alan Bowness's four conditions of success as a framework for investigation. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41243 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | Eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:13.078Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Michaelis School of Fine Art |
| publisherStr | Michaelis School of Fine Art |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41243 Culture, Commerce and Value: The Contemporary South African Fine Art Market in Relation to Concepts of Artistic and Financial Success le Clus-Theron, Jean Lamprecht, Andrew Conradie, Annemi Fine Arts In this study I investigate two main premises: firstly that art intermediaries are imperative in value creation in an artist's career, and secondly that high prices are used as a way to justify, measure or reflect an artist's “importance”. The motives for these investigations are, firstly, that there would seem to be insufficient academic research on these notions in the South African art scene, and secondly, the existence of a counter argument, namely, that the high prices attained on the art market may be deemed arbitrary and irrational. This study investigates the South African contemporary fine art scene along with the role of South African art intermediaries and their perceptions on ideas of “importance” and “success”, using two case studies. These case studies comprise the career trajectories of two living artists residing in South Africa, who compared to all other living artists residing in South Africa, have attained the highest prices in their careers for work on auction, namely, William Kentridge and Dylan Lewis. In this study twenty-six intermediaries were interviewed and the ensuing data used to investigate how these and other intermediaries influence perceptions of the importance and success of these artists' work. This dissertation incorporates Pierre Bourdieu's theory of field, capital and distinction, and uses Alan Bowness's four conditions of success as a framework for investigation. 2025-03-25T12:59:56Z 2025-03-25T12:59:56Z 2015 2025-03-25T12:58:37Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41243 Eng application/pdf Michaelis School of Fine Art Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Fine Arts le Clus-Theron, Jean Culture, Commerce and Value: The Contemporary South African Fine Art Market in Relation to Concepts of Artistic and Financial Success |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Culture, Commerce and Value: The Contemporary South African Fine Art Market in Relation to Concepts of Artistic and Financial Success |
| title_full | Culture, Commerce and Value: The Contemporary South African Fine Art Market in Relation to Concepts of Artistic and Financial Success |
| title_fullStr | Culture, Commerce and Value: The Contemporary South African Fine Art Market in Relation to Concepts of Artistic and Financial Success |
| title_full_unstemmed | Culture, Commerce and Value: The Contemporary South African Fine Art Market in Relation to Concepts of Artistic and Financial Success |
| title_short | Culture, Commerce and Value: The Contemporary South African Fine Art Market in Relation to Concepts of Artistic and Financial Success |
| title_sort | culture commerce and value the contemporary south african fine art market in relation to concepts of artistic and financial success |
| topic | Fine Arts |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41243 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leclustheronjean culturecommerceandvaluethecontemporarysouthafricanfineartmarketinrelationtoconceptsofartisticandfinancialsuccess |