The West in Bronze: Analyzing the Market and Networks of Western American Bronze Sculptures, 1895-2019
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This thesis examines the market growth of Western American bronze sculpture over the course of 124 years (1895-2019), from Frederic Remington’s Bronco Buster until now. The genre of Western American art is a highly marginalized genre that has received limited study, and the market analysis even less so. The research for this thesis was primarily conducted through the use of digital methodologies falling under the realm of the digital humanities and, in particular, digital art history. Such methodological approach, particularly productive for art market studies, brings to the fore quantitative data in relation to artist’s sales, dealer’s activities, auctions, and collectors’ interests that enable us to pose new questions in relation to the production of Western American sculpture throughout a large chronological span. Analysis of this data proves that although the work has a racist and nationalistic past, it is changing towards more inclusive iconographies, and the market networks are still growing and show no signs of slowing down.