Do you realise that sometimes people with art degrees never actually learned about how they can sell their artworks to the art market later? You don’t always need art education to understand the art market, but you also need to understand about art itself .
The art market is not something that only art-graduates nor business-graduates can tackle; it needs a certain level of knowledge and understanding of the art market. That is why art universities, art colleges and art auction houses started launching their own art courses, business courses and postgraduate programs specialising in art business, aimed at future art curators, art collectors and art auctioneers.
Perhaps it has not been easy for artists and designers to convince the art market due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of the business and organisational terms. At the same time, business people also don’t know how to work well with creative-minded people working in the art industry. A person who could be involved in those two different worlds will be able to gain better exposure in the art market.
London, New York and Los Angeles already offer art institutes, art schools, art universities and art colleges for postgraduate students to get the opportunity to study not only art business course, but also art history course, as well as legal and financial aspects in the art market; Sotheby’s Institute of Art for instance. They are one of the oldest in this field and has been offering a one year post-graduate program in Art Business since 1998. Students of this art business course focus more on practice rather than theoretical studies.
The other art institutes would be Christie’s Education, which offers a full-time 15 months post-graduate program that specialises in art history course, art law course and art business course. This art course is perfect for those who are interested to work in international art fairs and exhibitions. In this program, students don’t only learn about art business itself, but also how to analyse different kinds of work of art, new movements and influences as well as some cultural and history studies. The New York campus also offers a degree in Modern and Contemporary art universities, art colleges and The Market for those who are more interested only in the arts that existed from 1850 to the present.
If postgraduate programs are not what you are looking for, you can always go for the art business course called the Art Business Certificate program at Christie’s Education. It is aimed for those who are pretty new in the industry but willing to get their knowledge enhanced in the art market as well as art analysing methods.
Other than that, you can always do more proper and thorough research and look into the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, Italy. They offer a full-time art business course for postgraduate program in Arts Management and Administration. In this one-year program with English as the language of instructions, you get the chance to have more solid foundations and skills in management and creative skills, with a focus on an international market with a multidisciplinary approach. This program is perfect for humanities graduates who already have experiences working in the art and culture industry to get their skills developed and advanced for a more specialised managerial background.
At the end of the day, graduates of these art business courses are expected to think creatively, visually, while communicating in the language and terms of art business. So, what else are you waiting for?

The art market is not something that only art-graduates nor business-graduates can tackle...
Career
17 Jan 2023