The Greatest Artists of the Twentieth Century

Galenson, David

The Greatest Artists of the Twentieth Century

No 11899, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Pablo Picasso was by far the greatest artist of the 20th century: textbooks of art history contain more than twice as many illustrations of his work as of that of his closest rival, Henri Matisse. A survey of textbooks also identifies Jackson Pollock as the greatest American artist, by a narrow margin over Andy Warhol. The 15 greatest artists of the century include nine conceptual innovators, who made their greatest contributions early in their lives, in their 20s and 30s, and six experimental innovators, who generally did their greatest work in their 40s and 50s - and even, in the case of Mondrian, in his 70s. Contrary to the belief of many humanists, the textbooks show that in art, as in all intellectual activities, importance is determined by innovation.

JEL-codes: J0 J1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul and nep-his
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Published as The Greatest Artists of the Twentieth Century , David W. Galenson. in Conceptual Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Art , Galenson. 2009

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