Project Overview: The DALMI project will yield previously unavailable information about the economic, cultural and legal forces and factors that drive and influence the art market broadly defined. To accomplish this, the project will:
(1) study clusters of buyers, areas, price series, auction results, clusters of characteristics buyers project in art whether or not intended by the maker, using the consumer theory of Lancaster and the bundled characteristics theory developed by Professors De Marchi and Van Miegroet,
(2) implement vertically integrated study and research projects that use a hybrid combination of new art historical, legal and econometric techniques to study consumer preferences for art and how these interact on a global scale with specific legislative and cultural environments,
(3) conduct advanced research in a systematic manner of the factors that affect price, choice, legislation, consumer preference and use the result of these findings through economic theory regarding the role of irrationality in purchasing and investment decisions.
These research objectives will form the academic foundation for:
(1) vertically integrated, modular course cycles;
(2) development of the student-administered Duke DALMI e-journal;
(3) workshops in Art, Law & Markets for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as expert international visitors;
(4) the development of a fully operational database of auction sales results with the J. Paul Getty Provenance Index;
(5) research and development of the Master Collector: an Art Market Simulation Game, a web-based network that allows users to form virtual art collections and expand already existing vertically integrated cross-departmental teaching and research projects to analyze legal issues, market factors and premiums related to art in various periods.
This is an excellent and timely opportunity for Duke to expand innovative teaching and research in an emerging academic field (Art, Law & Markets) in which the University has expertise and seeks to develop distinct leadership.