New Art, New Markets

Originally published in 2011, Iain Robertson’s A New Art from Emerging Markets introduced and examined three types of emerging markets for contemporary art: recently established, maturing and mature. This fully revised second edition updates the reader on these rapidly evolving markets and adds a vital new section on South America.

As well as surveying emerging art markets throughout the world, the book is concerned with how value in non-Western contemporary art is constructed largely by external political events and economic factors rather than aesthetic considerations. For instance, Dubai’s political risk has increased markedly with the threat of a terrorist attack in the Emirate, which for one of the world’s newest art-market hubs, will undoubtedly affect the progress of prices for Middle-Eastern and Indian art. The book also considers whether new art markets grow better organically, driven by commercial imperatives, or with government intervention, constructing a cultural and economic infrastructure within which an art market can be placed.

Written accessibly and engagingly, the book presents emerging art-market scenarios that offer the collector, investor, speculator and interested observer, an insight into where the new markets are and how they are likely to develop.