At the end of the 18th century, Great Britain undoubtedly consolidated its dominant position
in the economic market and became the major world power. Her success in the economic
sphere was certainly also reflected in the art world, especially in terms of art collecting and
the development of the art market. The growth of the latter was also a logical consequence of
the increase in the disposable income of the growing middle class, a social group that in the
19th century had strongly reinforced its position in society.
The international dimension of the market in terms of its expansion was only possible due to
the increased mobility of goods, people and information, which again depended on evolving
social, political, economic and technological developments already taking place in the 18th
century. The focal point of this story was the so called "transport revolution" that fostered the
development of European trade and thus exchanges between national art markets, both
primary and secondary. The new and improved roads and transport infrastructure further
facilitated travel and exports abroad. Again, it was the middle class that benefited the most
from easier and cheaper access to foreign goods, travel and information. Its members were
visiting museums and exhibitions at home and in other countries, subscribed to the British and
foreign art publications, not only buying printed reproductions of paintings by old masters,
but also originals and modern masterpieces (at least in the upper echelons of the bourgeoisie
that formed the new elite) and other works of art. Subsequently they certainly had a
significant influence on British artistic taste and therefore on the art world throughout the 19th
century.
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