Free resources: Art business and art world

 

Source: Mark Knol on Flickr (edited). Licence.

 

Key resources

Art market reports
All the reports here, except ArtTactic, are free to download.  ArtTactic does however offer a small range of free reports.

 

Art Newspaper
A key source of up-to-date news about the art world. Much content is only available by subscription, but some stories are available on a free website.  From here you can also sign up for an email newsletter.

 

Email newsletters and apps are a great way of keeping up with art world news.

 

Ethics, restitution and art crime
Virtually all the resources in the more online resources section of the ethics and restitution guide are free to access.

 

Google Scholar
Google's specialist search engine for academic content. Material that is free to read online will have a PDF link, or similar, on the right of the screen. Many articles come in multiple versions, accessed by the small link "All x versions" below each result.  This is worth checking if as alternative versions may be available even if the primary version is not.  Note: current MA and Study Abroad students at SIA should access Scholar via the library database guide, in order to link through to resources available on subscription.

 

Other resources, A-Z

Please also check the other tabs of this guide, as there is much subject overlap.

 

Antiques Trade Gazette
Limited number of articles free online.

 

Art law
Most of the resources about UK and EU law, and US law, are free to access.

 

artnet
Important art market database, although only limited features available without a subscription. (Current MA and Study Abroad students at SIA have access to more features, and should log in via the price databases guide).

 

Arts Management Resources (501 Commons)
Links to resources about arts management, with a United States emphasis.

 

ArtTactic podcasts
Podcasts about the art market, collecting, art as in investment, and related issues.

 

Dissertations and theses
Global Electronic Theses and Dissertations Search is a search engine for finding free online versions of theses and dissertations from around the world, at both master's and doctoral level. 
EThOS offers doctoral theses (dissertations) from UK universities, and other degree-awarding institutions in the UK. When searching, check the box Limit search to items available for immediate download... for material you can read on your laptop or other device.

 

EconStor
Scholarly articles about economics, with a reasonable selection of material about art markets.

 

Invaluable
Database of fine and decorative art sold at auction.  Only limited features available without a subscription. (All features are available to current MA and Study Abroad students at SIA.)

 

I Photo Central
Provides "thousands of web pages for the photography collector, curator and historian". Includes all issues of the E-Photo Newsletter.

 

JSTOR
JSTOR is mainly a subscription service, but gives limited free access to the general public. If you find an article you want to read, use the Register & Read service.  You can access 3 articles in each 14-day period. Current MA and Study Abroad students at SIA should generally not use the above link, but instead follow the JSTOR link from the library database guide, because that will give access to the SIA subscription. 

 

National Bureau of Economic Research
Create your own free account and then use the search function to find articles on art markets.

 

OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks)
Scholarly books, including some important titles about art and art markets.

 

Provenance research
The Getty Provenance Index Databases and the IFAR Provenance Guide  are good starting points for research.

 

Repositories
Often the best starting point for finding free scholarly material.  They are large online collections, created by universities and other institutions, and usually include the most up-to-date research.  Our guide to repositories gives more information, with links to tools for searching many repositories at once.