Mapping intermediaries in contemporary art according to pragmatic sociology

Abstract

The role and number of intermediaries involved in the process of artistic mediation tend to be all the more important as the art world becomes more autonomous, ruled by specific values, words and actions. This is particularly obvious in the case of contemporary visual arts, as this article demonstrates. The example of a French member of the Nouveaux Réalistes movement helps mapping the various categories of persons, institutions, gestures, objects owing to which a piece of scrap may be offered the career of an authentic artwork. The article concludes by providing a historical explanation of the growing role of intermediaries in modern and contemporary art, and insight into current French cultural policy concerning intermediaries in the visual arts. © The Author(s) 2012.