Art
Art is an asset class which encompass a broad category of human activities and artefacts that are done with "artistic intent". This is a philosophically ambiguous category but generally corresponds to activities which are stimulating because of their aesthetic, intellectual or emotional qualities.
Art is a non-productive asset.
Art is a speculative asset.
Art generally has no income-cashflows in and of itself.
Art has no fundamental value under the economic definition of the term.
Art's intrinsic value is a debated in philosophy. Some models suggest that art's value is derived from a human desire for beauty or a physiological compulsion to conceptualize abstract representations of the minds others human beings. There is no universally agreed definition of what constitutes art.
Art's market value is often tied to its provenance, sign value and narrative. The precise nature of this a relationship is an open problem in the philosophy of art.
Art may be artificial scarce if created as part of a collection.
The art market has a great amount of asymmetric information and market manipulation and is often used a vehicle for money laundering.
References
- Solimano, Andrés. 2021. ‘The Evolution of Contemporary Arts Markets’. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003215127.