The auction market for artworks and their physical dimensions: Australia—1986 to 2009

Within a hedonic pricing model, the preferences of Australian art purchasers are investigated. Emphasis is placed on the impact of an artwork’s dimensions upon its auction price. A salient aspect of this is the first test of the ‘golden ratio’ hypothesis in a market situation. It is concluded that purchasers prefer paintings that deviate from the golden rule. The ‘orientation’ of works (portrait, landscape or square) as well as size also helps determine price. The impact of winning the Archibald portraiture prize (Australia’s foremost art prize) is found to have significant and positive impacts on winning artists’ prices. This suggests that purchasers are not fully informed. In addition, a previously unsuspected relationship between artwork dimensions and Archibald prize winners was found. As well as purchasers’ preferences, the artists’ choices of the dimensions of their artworks are considered.     

Tribal art market: signs and signals

In this paper, we present a model for the marketability of a Tribal artwork, and we test this model empirically using a unique hand-collected dataset, which comprises the worldwide Tribal art market auctions between 1999 and 2008. Our results show a significant relationship between the probability of an artwork to be sold and several signs and signals. The effect of the auction estimated prices on the probability of sales is nonlinear and allows us to divide the Tribal art market into two price regimes. In the low-price regime, the effect of the auction estimated price on the probability of sales is negative. In the high-price regime, the effect of the auction estimated price on the probability of sales is positive.     

Non-invasive multi-technique investigation of artworks: A new tool for on-the-spot data documentation and analysis

The main advantage of a multi-technique non-invasive artwork investigations relies on the use of different spectroscopic techniques that give rise to complementary information. Despite the artworks complexity, this approach allows great insight into the artwork composition and alteration phases. However, difficulties arise from the great amount of heterogeneous interconnected data that has to be stored for a prompt analysis and preserved. A suitable tool to handle and analyse all the information on the fly is therefore crucial to optimize work, specially in in situ investigations. In this paper we present MOVIDA, a new tool for the data management and analysis of non-invasive investigations in the Cultural Heritage field that not only allows the digital preservation of all the information and knowledge, but can also be used as an analytical tool while the investigation is being developed. The software can be installed on any computer to record, elaborate and analyse the data on-the-spot. All the data generated can be managed within the same application and the information can be easily consulted, compared and related to the corresponding areas of the artwork. The software is self-comprehensive and user-friendly and can be used by all the professionals involved in the investigation and preservation of Cultural Heritage whatever their background and computer skills are.     

Arts and craftiness: an economic analysis of art heists

We study the incentives that museums face in determining how much resources to invest in the protection of their artwork from theft. We present and analyze a game-theoretic model of art heists that accounts for the strategic interactions between museums’ and art thieves’ decisions and that incorporates several key features of the black market for stolen art. We find that the equilibrium level of security museums choose need not be monotonic in the true market value or the black market value of artwork, i.e., increasing the value of an art piece—whether it is the true market value or the black market value—does not necessarily lead museums to invest more in protecting their artwork. The effects of parameter changes in the model that reflect a shift of public policy depend critically on what type of policy change is considered. For instance, an increase in the penalty imposed for committing art theft cannot raise the amount of theft in equilibrium and could in fact lead museums to increase their level of security. On the other hand, investing more resources on law enforcement agencies so that they are better able to solve art crimes can actually increase the amount of theft in equilibrium by causing museums to spend less on security.     

Yellowing effect and discoloration of pigments: experimental and theoretical studies

Two issues of great interest in the field of lasers in artwork conservation are the so-called yellowing effect and the discoloration of pigments. We have viewed these issues from a comprehensive point of view, considering all our present experimental results as well as ongoing modeling and theoretical calculations. The first concern to be discussed is the yellowing effect in laser cleaning of marble or stone artifacts. Although, in most cases, a yellowish layer exists underneath the black encrustation, the so-called ‘patina’, it has become clear that there are situations where yellowing cannot be attributed to an existing layer. In the present study, a light scattering model that may account for the yellowing is presented. This model considers a thin absorbent layer and the surface roughness and/or created voids and accounts for the reflectance spectra measured by (i) hyper-spectral imaging and (ii) integrating sphere. Additional experimental data, such as the absence of yellowing when the third harmonic of a Q-swihed Nd:YAG laser is used, support this model. A thorough understanding of the quantitative characteristics of pigment discoloration, on the other hand, has been attempted by means of X-ray diffraction and theoretical studies. The model developed suggests a nucleation process for cinnabar resulting in a structural modification within the volume of a pigment’s crystal or particle close to the ‘ablation front’, which extends for a few nanometers from its surface.     

Virtual reconstruction of paintings as a tool for research and learning

This paper presents the work related to the 3D reconstruction of the scene depicted in the famous Piero della Francesca's fresco “The Resurrection”. The work has presented many challenges due to the fact that deliberate alterations to a mathematically correct perspective were introduced by the artist in order to visibly underline the contrast between the divine plane (Christ resurrected) and the human plane (a group of soldiers witnessing the scene). The reconstructed 3D model has been used in an interactive application enabling the virtual visit of the scene as seen from relevant viewpoints corresponding to the different perspectives and to details of the depicted figures. The application also allows to change in real-time the lighting conditions of the scene in order to compare the virtual illumination with the one present in the fresco so as to illustrate possible alternatives about the debated original collocation of the artwork.     

文萃

别人的教训 一位雕塑家得到一块质地非常好的大理石。他觉得大理石非常适合雕刻一个人像,于是,他拿起凿子。不知是因为紧张还是用力过猛,只那么一凿,他就敲下了一大块碎片。     

The history of the “Virgin with Child” sculpture (Ottaviano,Naples, southern Italy): Hypotheses from archaeometric multi-technique investigations

A life-size whitish marble statue of a “Virgin with Child” has been recently rediscovered in the St. Rosario church located in Ottaviano, a small town near Naples (southern Italy). This artwork shows stylistic features of the Tuscan-Roman school of the 16th century, and is framed in an intriguing historical context. Historical documents testify that the sculpture was a property of the cadet branch of noble Tuscan family of the Medici, the Medici of Ottaviano. A multianalytical approach has been used to try to indicate the supply area of the white marble of the studied sculpture. Considering the whole mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical data, the source rock can be possibly limited to the main classical white marbles of the Mediterranean district, as the classical marble of Aphrodisias. A reuse practice of a former artwork can be also hypothesized.     

Historical pigments characterisation by quantitative X-ray fluorescence

Most of the historical paints are mainly constituted by inorganic pigments, either pure or mixed, spread on the surfaces using different binding agents. The knowledge of the exact amount of different constituents of the paint, as well as of the mixing and pictorial techniques, is crucial for a careful program of conservation of polychrome works. Moreover, since the availability of these pigments has been changing through the centuries, their identification and chemical characterisation is useful to acquire or deepen information about the artist and his/her work. This information can also be useful for authentication purposes through relative dating because the identification of one pigment respect to another one can be used as a terminus post quem or ante quem the artwork was realized. In this work, X-ray fluorescence data from historical pigments, both pure and mixed, will be presented, in order to obtain quantitative information on the samples and to extract calibration curves to the aim of evaluating the pigment concentration in unknown mixtures.     

Determinants of sales and price at auction for three Australian Indigenous artists: to pool or not to pool?

Albert Namatjira (1902–1959), Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c1910–1996) and Rover (Julama) Thomas (c1926–1998) are three of Australia’s best-known Indigenous artists. Each is known for one style of painting—Namatjira for watercolor on paper, Kngwarreye for acrylic (synthetic polymer) on canvas and Thomas for natural earth pigments on canvas. We estimate a sample selectivity model using data from the Australian Art Sales Digest to study the determinants of sales and the hammer price of artworks offered at auction from these artists. The results show that pre-sale information on the artwork and auction effects are significant and that the three artists studied are very different from each other. Thus, data should not be pooled when estimating these models.     

Trans-illumination and trans-irradiation with digital cameras: Potentials and limits of two imaging techniques used for the diagnostic investigation of paintings

During the past two decades, thanks to the rapid development of solid-state-based sensor technology, digital imaging emerged as one of the most attractive research areas for the noninvasive investigation of paintings and flat artworks. In particular, the commercial availability of high-performance digital cameras opened up new perspectives to transmitted imaging techniques, such as trans-illumination and trans-irradiation, which are based on the acquisition of the visible (Vis) and near infrared (NIR) radiation, respectively, transmitted through the object. Until recently, these techniques were indeed considered to be unsuitable for applications on artefacts, because of the risks of overheating and overexposure to the light of the object under analysis. Nowadays, with the new-generation digital cameras, transmitted imaging can be reconsidered as a possible tool for noninvasive diagnostics on paintings on canvas. These techniques have been proven to be effective for the examination of hidden details, such as underlying drawing, for a study of the pictorial style or the executive techniques, as well as for assessing the state of conservation of the supports. Both trans-illumination and trans-irradiation can be easily implemented by means of professional photographic digital cameras, and therefore offer a valuable alternative to the more expensive well-established methodologies, such as X-ray radiography. In some cases, they are found to be complementary to the conventional techniques in revealing details of the underlying paint layers. Potentials and limits of transmitted imaging techniques are discussed in this paper, starting from three case studies of oil-paintings on canvas that belong to the permanent collection of the Gallery of modern art at the Pitti Palace in Florence.     

Fibre Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy as a non-invasive tool for investigating plastics degradation in contemporary art collections: A methodological study on an expanded polystyrene artwork

Fibre Optics Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS) is a well-established technique, widely used in the conservation field for in situ investigations and non-invasive diagnostics on traditional artworks. Nevertheless, there is little knowledge on the use of this technique for investigating modern artists materials used in contemporary artworks. The present study, carried out within the wider framework of the EC funded Project “POPART” (Preservation of Plastic ARTefacts in museum collections”), was aimed at investigating the possibility of extending the applications of FORS to synthetic polymers, and proposing this technique as new non-invasive analytical tool for diagnostics on plastic artworks in museum collections. Thus, a real case was selected from the permanent collection of the Conteporary Art Centre “Luigi Pecci” (Prato, Italy). The artwork, created in 1990 by the artist Stefano Arienti, was entirely constituted of expanded polystyrene (EPS) and it showed diffused signs of degradation. The need of singling out the main causes of deterioration in order to prevent further damages was evident. An in situ FORS measurements campaign was performed with the aim of gaining in-depth information about its conservation state and identifying the main agents responsible for the observed degradation. Thanks to the non-invasivity of the technique an extensive spectroscopic characterisation of different areas of the EPS surface could be performed and the spectral data were exploited to build a map of the degraded areas of the artwork. Data acquired in field were compared with those obtained from laboratory test performed on artificially aged EPS samples. These results helped in ascertaining the detrimental actions of the light sources used to back illuminate the artwork. In particular, in this case FORS proved to be effective in detecting EPS alterations before the chromatic effects became visually evident. These results suggested that FORS may be considered as a good candidate to be used for non-invasive investigations also on some modern materials and contemporary artworks. The research was completed with an interview to the artist Stefano Arienti, whose point of view was constructively integrated with the scientific results obtained. This emphasized the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to the solution of conservative problem in the field of contemporary art.     

An empirical study of the determinants of revenues and marketing expenditures in the motion picture industry

This paper presents an empirical study of the determinants of a motion picture's financial success. Among the many factors which are included in this study, we find that quality and marketing expenditures are important determinants. Film ratings, production cost, and the presence of star performers are only important determinants when marketing is not included. We find that marketing expenditures are positively related to production costs, winning Academy Awards and the presence of major stars.Claremont McKenna College and Wayne State University respectively. Our thanks to Professors Eleanor Brown and Ken Inman for many valuable suggestions.     

Control of indoor environments in heritage buildings: experimental measurements in an old Italian museum and proposal of a methodology

This paper describes some results from an experiment carried out regarding a procedure to be adopted for temperature and R.H. monitoring of indoor spaces designed for exhibiting events, such as museums and similar institutions. The monitored data employed in this study has been collected by the Department di Ricerche Energetiche ed Ambientali of the Università degli Studi di Palermo in co-operation with the Regional Gallery ''Palazzo Abatellis'' of Palermo. The study analyses a simple method for characterising the environmental quality of museums so as to ensure the optimal conservation of works of art. This methodology is based on the procedure (where thermal and hygrometry parameters are concerned) proposed by an Italian standard rule. A new technique, firstly applied to the industrial environment, based on the passive reactive monitoring of proper coupons is also proposed for monitoring air quality in museums. The methodology adopted, has been applied to two survey campaigns which were carried out at a distance of 5 years. This shows the two aspects of thermal-hygrometry and levels of indoor air quality aimed at preserving works of art. The future developments of this work are oriented towards the definition of guidelines in support of those responsible for the conservation of works of art and improvements in the quality of environments for artwork conservation and for the comfort of visitors through the use of proper HVAC systems.     

Beginning Science Policy Research in Europe: The Studiengruppe für Systemforschung, 1957–1973

Translator’s note*: I am pleased to offer this translation of a lecture by Helmut Krauch, both because he is an old friend, whom I have known for more than forty years, and because it fills a gap in the history of science policy research. As this lecture makes clear, the Studiengruppe, led by Krauch, was the first in Europe to measure the share of nuclear and military research in total R&D expenditure and to make systematic technology assessments to guide government policy. Moreover, its Project ORAKEL opened the way to wider public debate on major policy issues in science and technology. Krauch’s book on Computer Democracy remains an outstanding contribution to the reform of Western democracy. I commend this essay warmly to all concerned with the history of science and technology policy. This is an edited translation of a lecture delivered at the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis at the Research Centre for Technical Change and the Environment in Karlsruhe, 10 April 2000. We are grateful to the Institute for permission to publish the essay, to Professor Christopher Freeman, for generously preparing a translation, and to Dr. Reinhard Coenen for helping to prepare the final version.     

中国歌曲“走出去”的“译”定之规--兼与刘瑞强先生及同行商榷

歌曲是文化的一部分,中国文化"走出去"少不了中国歌曲"走出去"。然而,长期以来,我国对歌曲翻译的研究大多集中在对欧美歌曲汉译的研究,有关中国歌曲英译的研究涉及较少,鲜有成果。本文探讨了弗兰松(Franzon)提出的歌曲翻译五种选择及《中华人民共和国国歌》英译时的选择,并基于彼得·洛(Peter Low)的歌曲翻译"五项全能原则",对中国歌曲英译策略与基本规则进行了梳理与探索。     

Three-dimensional modelling of statues: the Minerva of Arezzo

The Minerva of Arezzo is an ancient bronze statue located at the Museo Archeologico in Florence and currently under repair at the Restoration Centre of the Soprintendenza Archeologica of the Tuscany Region. We assembled a complete three-dimensional (3D) digital model of the Minerva before the restoration started. More 3D models will be produced to keep track of the variations that occurred during the restoration process, up to the final acquisition of the form of the restored artwork. The modelling of the Minerva will be the focal point of an ambitious “Minerva Project” that involves the integration of data from other sources in a 3D digital model of the object. Besides this, the project is aimed at showing how 3D techniques can be used to design useful and easily manageable new tools for the diagnostics of archaeological objects. 3D measurements have been realized by means of a high-resolution laser scanner developed at National Institute for Applied Optics (INOA). The instrument is composed of commercial low-cost components in order to be competitive with the very expensive commercial devices. Besides this, our scanner is supported by an efficient and flexible software developed by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) that supports all the post-processing phases of a 3D scanning session (range data alignment, merge and simplification).     

The Re-emergence of The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in the Church of Saint Peter and Paul,Famagusta, Northern Cyprus

This article presents the first study of a painting, possibly the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, which has been concealed for over 500 years, and which has, this century only, re-emerged through plaster removal in the church of SS. Peter and Paul in Famagusta, N. Cyprus. Though very badly damaged the painting, which has remained undocumented and unstudied in the history and art history of Cyprus, may offer vital clues concerning internationalism and cultural interaction in Cyprus in the 14th and 15th centuries. It also offers specialists a rare glimpse at Italian ecclesiastical wall painting from this rich period in western art history, and makes clear the intellectual loss that might be felt if some basic conservation processes are not begun soon. Lastly, in the light of the changing political situation in that island it invites scholarship in a range of disciplines to the church and to other historic landmarks within the old city walls.     

Representing and Performing Businesses

This article investigates a segmentation model used by the Danish Tax and Customs Administration to classify businesses' motivational postures. The article uses two different conceptualisations of performativity to analyse what the model's segmentations do: Hacking's notion of making up people and MacKenzie's idea of performativity. Based on these two approaches, the article demonstrates that the segmentation model represents and performs the businesses as it makes up certain new ways to be a business and as the businesses can be seen as moving targets. Inspired by MacKenzie the argument is that the segmentation model embodies cleverness in that it simultaneously alters what it represents and then represents this altered reality to confirm the accuracy of its own model of the businesses' postures. Despite the cleverness of the model, it also has a blind spot. The model assumes a world wherein everything around it is in motion and can be shaped, however, it sees itself as stable. This assumption turns out to be problematic as the tax administration questions the model's ability to produce valid comparisons. The article presents a detailed analysis of the model's performativity, providing an example of a performativity study whose methodology differs from the methodological criteria set up by MacKenzie.