50 Examples of the Art World

John Spacey, March 02, 2021

The art world is the set of individuals, groups and institutions that are involved in the social, educational, cultural and economic processes surrounding fine arts. From a value perspective this has artists at the top who collectively produce priceless cultural value down to art critics who offer educated opinions. Between these two extremes lie a broad range of professions and organizations that play a role in bringing art to the world or capturing value from art. The following are examples of the art world.

Art Agents	Art Appraisal
Art Communities	Art Critics
Art Curation	Art Dealers
Art Diplomacy	Art Expositions
Art Finance	Art Historians
Art Institutions	Art Investors
Art Journalism	Art Law
Art Magazines	Art Merchandising
Art Models	Art Movements
Art Preservation	Art Production
Art Promotion	Art References & Databases
Art Research	Art Restoration
Art Scholarship	Art Schools
Art Security	Art Shops & Ecommerce
Art Supplies	Art Teachers
Art Transport	Art Valuation
Art Venues	Artist Estates
Artists	Auctions
Audiences	Brokers
Collections Management	Collectors
Commercial Artists	Galleries
Gift Shops	Government Art Collections
Government Grants	Museums
Outsider Artists	Patrons
Street Art	Traditional Artists

Art institutions are a broad collection of government and non-government organizations that play some role in the art world. For example, an institution that offers accreditation for art schools in a particular nation.

Art merchandising is the production of products that are based on the works of artists. For example, an art book.

Art production is all the work that goes into art events such as an exhibition at a gallery.

An art movement is a subculture of artists that occurs at a time and place that creates a new style of art.

Art diplomacy is the use of art to foster international relations and soft power. For example, a national collection that exchanges priceless works of cultural heritage with another nation on temporary loan.

Globally, Visual arts is a $391 billion industry. This tops newspapers & magazines at $354 billion and comes in just under television at $477 billion. Visual arts directly employs around 6.73 million people globally.