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

"Winner of the International Book Award for Art"

" 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

"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

"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

"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

Review

“At once lucid, rigorous, sweeping, and innovative, The Global Rules of Art is a true tour de force, a must-read for cultural sociologists, art historians, social theorists, and scholars of globalization. A stunning achievement that sets a new standard for sociological analysis.” —Philip Gorski, Yale University

“A remarkable examination of the globalization of the art world over the past forty years and the new questions and forces with which it is confronted today. Adapting what Pierre Bourdieu called the ‘rules of art’ to the new geographies and internal tensions in this expanded field, this magisterial analysis exemplifies the vital role that a systemic sociology of culture can play for us today.” —John A. Rajchman, Columbia University

“Impressive and important. The Global Rules of Art is exquisitely written and theoretically and empirically exceptional.” —Clayton Childress, author of Under the Cover: The Creation, Production, and Reception of a Novel

“With polished, sophisticated prose and a dazzling command of her subject, Buchholz provides a novel explanation of how the international contemporary art world expanded and diversified from the 1980s to today. The Global Rules of Art is a stunning scholarly achievement.” —Fiona Greenland, author of Ruling Culture: Art Police, Tomb Robbers, and the Rise of Cultural Power in Italy

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.