Myths and pathologies of the trade in works of art Cover Image

Mity i patologie obrotu dziełami sztuki
Myths and pathologies of the trade in works of art

Author(s): Wojciech Szafrański
Subject(s): Cultural history, Museology & Heritage Studies, Civil Law
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: works of art market; works of art; cultural goods; smuggling; theft; myths of trading in the works of art;eternal rhombus;

Summary/Abstract: The specific conditions of the art market constitute a perfect place in which crime can function well and flourish by making use of increasingly more sophisticated mechanisms used in the international trade in these objects. There are certain myths, such as the myth of the dual market (legal and illegal), the myth of faith in national law and in soft law, or the myth of a young market. However, reality shows a poor understanding of the mechanisms that are present in the art market and a spreading of those myths, which in consequence leads to a further strengthening of the pathologies that do exist in the market, such as, among other things, corruption, price manipulation, or the legalization of stolen or excavated objects. In this paper, the pathologies occurring in the art market are categorized and the case study presented shows the practical difficulty of solving the conflict that arises between a seller (owner) and a buyer in good faith as well as the shortcomings of the new model referred to as an eternal rhombus.

  • Issue Year: 1/2015
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 135-172
  • Page Count: 38
  • Language: Polish