Double Perspective: The Art Market—Between the Sociology of Art and Cultural History

• Published in: Biens Symboliques / Symbolic Goods
• Main Authors: Sofio, Séverine, Verlaine, Julie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Université Paris Lumières 2018
• ISSN: 2490-9424
• DOI: 10.4000/bssg.292

In this interview, Julie Verlaine, an expert on cultural history, discusses her specific experience as a historian exploring a world that was also studied by a sociologist. Indeed, Verlaine focused on the post-war art market in Paris, wich was studied in depth by the sociologist Raymonde Moulin in the 1950s and 60s. Moulin’s research was published as a book, Le Marché de la peinture in 1967, which has since become a key reference in the sociology of art and was translated in English in 1987 [The French Art Market. A Sociological View]. Fifty years later, Verlaine focused on this same world, but from a different disciplinary perspective. The resulting book, Les Galeries d’art contemporain à Paris de la Libération à la fin des années 1960, was published in 2013. What was the role of the sociologist’s work in the historian’s work? What does this dual disciplinary perspective contribute to our knowledge of the art market? What are the scientific and theoretical issues involved in the transformation of a sociological study into a historical source?