Quantifying reputation and success in art

Abstract

In areas of human activity where performance is difficult to quantify in an objective fashion, reputation and networks of influence play a key role in determining access to resources and rewards. To understand the role of these factors, we reconstructed the exhibition history of half a million artists, mapping out the coexhibition network that captures the movement of art between institutions. Centrality within this network captured institutional prestige, allowing us to explore the career trajectory of individual artists in terms of access to coveted institutions. Early access to prestigious central institutions offered life-long access to high-prestige venues and reduced dropout rate. By contrast, starting at the network periphery resulted in a high dropout rate, limiting access to central institutions. A Markov model predicts the career trajectory of individual artists and documents the strong path and history dependence of valuation in art.

Reputation, Status Networks, and the Art Market

“…In both visual art and across artistic fields, research has shown that advantageous associations can be professional, such as membership within an artistic movement (Crane 1987;White and White 1965;for example, see pp. 6-17), mentorship between an established and novice artist (Craig and Dubois 2010), or attending a prominent academy or school (Madoff 2009); however, informal associations also prove beneficial, ranging from friendship circles and social milieus (Currid 2007; gateway to prestigious, successful careers (Braden 2009;Fraiberger et al 2018), exhibition association is particularly powerful, denoting critical comparability and a historical relationship.…”

Computational Creativity and Music Generation Systems: An Introduction to the State of the Art

“…Even if someone tried to directly assess the creativity of a Product, of the Process behind it, or of the Person, he needs to pass through the lens of human perception (and thus the Press perspective) to be really understood (Colton, 2008), making the Press perspective the most ubiquitous. On the other hand, the Press perspective is not enough to give an indication of creativity, since commercial success or reach of a Product is influenced by a variety of factors that go beyond creativity, or even just its Value (Fraiberger et al, 2018).…”

Music festivals as mediators and their influence on consumer awareness

“…A third perspective, the institutionalist approach, stresses the role of institutional intermediaries and the exchanges of information that determine the formation of reputation: the existence of specific market institutions such as contests (Rao, 1994), the undertaking of high levels of value-creating market actions directed to increase a firm's visibility (Rindova et al, 2007), or the association with high reputation actors (Stuart et al, 1999) have been considered within this framework. In a recent empirical application to the arts, Fraiberger et al (2018) emphasize connections to reputed institutions in the creation of symbolic value. Their research quantifies reputation of artists using the prestige of the museums and galleries where their work has been exhibited.…”