At what point in history and for what reasons did the art dealers (and
galleries) start to 'take over' and have the majority of the power in
the art world. Instead of letting society (or probable back then, only
high society, royalty, etc.) decide what art and artists of the time
are the best, most desirable, most respected etc. Compared to how it
is now where the art dealers and galleries decide what art and artists
of the time are the best, most desirable, most respected etc. please
give a reasonably detailed answer and focus more on the business of
it.

Also please recommend some reading (less then 20 pages ? can be a
chapter of a book) that covers the overview of the history of the art
dealer and how its role has changed from the first art dealer until to
now. I want something that is concise, and more about the business of
it then the art itself.

<Art dealers and galleries, art history and art business.

This paper describes how the system of deciding the status of artists has changed.

In medieval times the guild was the central institution. During the
Renaissance the Academy took over most of the functions of the guilds.
Although there were some dealers active at this time, they played a
minor role.

During the time of the impressionists, the art galleries and critics
took over and  became the ?experts? on art. The turning point came in
the 1880?s when a number of impressionists began having one man shows.
The following sequence of events were responsible for this.

To be accepted as an artist, it was necessary to exhibit work in the
official Salon of the French Academy.  The paintings were selected by
a jury of peers. Failure to have paintings selected meant no career
for an artist. From 1737 onward paintings were grouped and hung
according to the artists? academic rank.

In 1863, the jury of the Salon rejected several thousand paintings.
Opposition against the Salon led to the organisation of the Salon des
Refusés. This was a separate exhibition that showed the work of those
rejected by the Salon jury.

In 1867, the Salon refused two thirds of the submissions. In the same
year the World Fair was held in Paris. Manet and Courbet decided to
exhibit in specially built pavilions at the World Fair instead of the
Salon. These exhibitions were not financially successful. However they
resulted in other artists contemplating exhibiting outside of the
Salon system.

In 1873, a group of impressionists held a group exhibition. Degas,
Monet, Sisley and Pissarro had received considerable amount of money
from the dealer Duran-Ruel, partly in the form of fixed incomes
against future sales. Due to the economic depression of 1873,
Duran-Ruel had to suspend payments to the artists. He was able to
resume buying works in 1878. From the early 1880?s both dealers and
artists were doing financially well.


Prominent dealers of the time were Durand-Ruel, Petit, Theo Van Gogh
and Kahnweiler.

Section 3.3 shows how the role of the dealer changed over time from
ideological dealers who were not motivated by money but to spread the
word about particular style of art or particular artists. The dealer
found that having an ideology made selling a more virtuous and more
profitable activity.

The exhibitions soon became more museum like and there was interaction
between the dealers and museum curators. The museum curators allowed
their premises to be used to show works for sale.

Foreign sales via commercial galleries became a more important source
of income than Salon prizes and official patronage. Buyers from the
United States became an important factor as they were willing to pay
relatively high prices and they often brought the speculative life of 
paintings to an end by bequeathing them to museums rather than selling
them on.


(Source: Groups, Experts and Innovation : the Selection System of
Modern Visual Art. Nachowm M. Wijnberg and Gerda Gemser.)
http://www.ub.rug.nl/eldoc/som/b/99B39/99b39.pdf

This article describes the events that led to the Salon de Refuses.
(Source: Everything2.)
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=815947


This article describes the role of the dealer in the 1600?s. (Source:
Cavant-garde.com)
http://www.cavant-garde.com/articles/busines1.shtml

This article describes the business of Adolphe Goupil during the
1800?s which was mainly concerned with selling reproduction prints.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1026/is_4_165/ai_n6077617/pg_1

In the 1860?s, dealers such as Martinet, Adolphe Goupil and Paul
Durand-Ruel began organising solo and group exhibitions.
http://www.harrisantiques.com/french_art_life_1815-1869.php

Paul Durand-Ruel was one of the first dealers to provide a regular
income to artists in return for a lien on what the artist produced.
http://www.mystudios.com/manet/people/durand-ruel.html
In the late 1950?s, dealer Spencer Samuels emphasised art purchase as
an investment opportunity. In 1959 he started publishing a newsletter
for businessmen, Currency of Art, which presented the acquisition of
art as a classic investment.

Taxes and Art took this marketing approach to a more refined level.
The publication gave detailed instructions on how to purchase
magnificent works of art while deducting great amounts from one's
taxes. These instructions were accompanied by glossy illustrations of
works of art, all owned by French & Company.  (Source: Getty
Exhibitions.)
http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/business/
According to the Art Dealers Association of California, dealers
discover and exhibit the works of new artists as well as preventing
exhibitions of veteran artists.
http://www.artdealersassociation.org/ArtDealersRole.html>



<Search strategy :>

<"salon des refuses" dealers>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2004-31%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=+%22salon+des+refuses%22+dealers>

<"official salons" paris "art history">
<://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-31,GGLD:en&q=+%22official+salons%22+paris+%22art+history%22>

<"salon des refuses">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2004-31%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=+%22salon+des+refuses%22>


<Hope this helps.>

We are a Not-For-Profit organisation which feature and promote local
artists, photographers, jewellery designers & master craft persons
from Ireland and the UK at no charge to the artist.  If we sell a
piece, we charge a small 20% commission that is funded back into the
company for continued promotion of our members.  We have over 40
members in our network (some featured on our web site)and add new
artists on a weekly basis.  You
can purchase both original pieces or replicas and prints. The work is
professional grade, stunning and unique, however we do not require a
jurying process.  I may also suggest a venue called The Sawdust
Festival in Laguna Beach California.  If you are not from that area,
you can cannot show during their summer festival, however you can show
during the Winter Fantasy Festival.  We are are and artist or know an
artist who is having difficulty with promoting your work, we are happy
to assist you in any way that we can and welcome your query. -
Metamorphosis Ireland