Public funding for the arts is not an alternative to patronage but simply another one of its many guises. This can take many forms, ranging from a wealthy collector to an acquisition by a public or private institution, or a grant. Artists, as a result, depend upon patronage. This also means that works of art are generally expensive and beyond the reach of most people. The quintessential nature of an artwork, therefore, is its originality and certification as such by the artist (supported, possibly, by his or her signature). As Nelson Goodman explains, visual art mainly operates within the autographic rather than the allographic regime. Artists need patrons because, unlike writers or musicians, they cannot support themselves by selling large numbers of affordable reproductions of a master copy, such as books or records. The relationship between the visual arts and patronage is a fundamental one, yet complex. Despite ever more and ever richer art collectors, for most artists, everyday reality has become increasingly difficult. From a distance, says Sacco, this might seem a good thing, but from close by, it presents a far less cheerful vision. In the last few years, the global art market has been in the midst of an enormous boom. In his article, professor of economics Pier Luigi Sacco calls our attention to a crucial tension in the way contemporary visual arts operate (internationally) today.
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