The purpose of the master's thesis is to analyze fine art through the prism of art historical, sociological and economic theories, with the focus on the treatment of a work of fine art as a specific form of commodity, especially from the second half of the 20th century to the present day within capitalist production and distribution relations. The central research problem is based on the question of how a work of fine art, traditionally perceived as unique and autonomous, acquires the characteristics of a market commodity and which institutions (both artistic and economic), ideological mechanisms and historical conditions enable and direct this process. In the master's thesis, I try to outline the functioning of the fine art market, the role of auction houses, galleries, museums, exhibitions, cultural institutions, curators and collectors in shaping the economic and symbolic values of works of art, and then I also include an overview of contemporary trends in investing in fine art and highlight the key determinants that influence the final price/economic value of works of art. Despite its apparent autonomy, art functions as part of a broader economic system, where artists, collectors and institutions are complicit in the reproduction of (economic) value hierarchies. Illuminating the intertwinings and mechanisms within the art world points to contradictions in the functioning of art systems, especially today, when contradictions within the world of (fine) art are increasingly deepening and works of art are themselves condensations of these contradictions.
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