Measuring Masters and Masterpieces: French Rankings of French Painters and Paintings from Realism to Surrealism

Martin Bruegel and David Galenson

No 8266, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: For 35 leading painters who worked in France during the first century of modern art, this paper uses illustrations in French textbooks as the basis for measuring the importance of both painters and individual paintings. The rankings closely resemble those obtained earlier from a similar analysis of American textbooks. They also pose a puzzle: why do some of the greatest artists not produce famous paintings, while some relatively minor artists produce famous individual works? The answer appears to lie in a difference in approach between experimental artists, who innovate incrementally, and conceptual innovators, who produce individual breakthrough works. This paper further demonstrates the value of quantifying artistic success, for doing so can improve our understanding of the sources of human creativity.

Date: 2001-05
Note: LS
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Published as Galenson, David W. “Measuring Masters and Masterpieces: French Rankings of French Painters and Paintings from Realism to Surrealism." Histoire et Mesure 17, 1-2 (2002): 47-85.

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