An article published by the INSEAD business school provides a partial answer based on an analysis of the artist selection in the permanent collections of three top museums of modern and contemporary art:
- Tate Modern
- Centre Pompidou (Paris)
- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (New York)
Analysing the exhibitions
Researchers built a dataset of over 500 artists whose works were on display. They also constructed networks based on whether or not artists had their works displayed in the same room. It was found there exist state, market and aesthetic imperatives when deciding how to assemble permanent collections and how to display them to visitors. The three above-mentioned sources of imperatives are the most important.
The demands of these spheres are often conflicting, which creates a dynamic also to be found in businesses involved in creative industries. So let’s look into the sources of imperatives for museums in more detail.
First source: the state
All three museums over-represent their national artists. An artist born in the US has a greater chance of being selected by the MoMA than the Tate Modern. This is probably because public museums need to promote the national heritage and soft power of the respective state. Elite art museums occupy a central place in their national cultural space and also receive public funding (in the case of the Centre Pompidou and Tate Modern).
Second source: the market
The MoMA, which some describe as a business-like museum, chose mostly from the top tier of artists (based on their reputation scores) and avoided those in the bottom tier. The Pompidou, which is heavily subsidised, included more lower tier artists.
-jk-