The Primacy of Primary Market Data

This paper describes the process of finding economic data in art historical archives and library records as part of conducting art-related research in the disciplines of finance and cultural economics. The paper explores three case studies of papers published in finance and economics that draw on exhibition catalogs, catalogues raisonnés, artists’ biographies, and substantial archival resources from the Archives of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art. This work contributes to the inclusion of artists in art markets and to the consideration of economic provenance as part of the history of art. The recommendations and outcomes of this paper fall into three categories: classification, context, and the motivation to record information that may not yet exist. This article is an expansion of a presentation given at the 113th annual College Art Association conference held in New York, New York, in February 2025 as part of the session “Exploring Methodological Approaches in Art Market Studies,” hosted by the International Art Market Studies Association.