Contemporary art trade in the Czech Republic has been regarded as a private area accessible only to a few insiders. So far no adequate literature about this field has existed, the marketing strategies used within it were, not only from the outside perspective, quite unclear. This work shows that it is not a secret sphere. On the contrary, it is a part of the market, which has the effect that the more you talk about it openly, the better impact it has on the whole society. The author presents the current situation in this field, its historical context, and openly discusses the long-term marketing strategies of gallerists who work with contemporary artists. On the basis of case studies from abroad she also shows other possible ways how to bring society closer to contemporary art by means of some specific marketing tools.

Miwa Yanagi’s Elevator Girls series, a collection of glossy photographs featuring groups of similarly clad women lingering in expansive, empty arcades, made its international debut in 1996. While the pieces garnered positive reactions, Yanagi found that most Western viewers read her work as predominantly “Oriental”—confirming stereotypes of a highly polished techno-topic Japan that was still negotiating gender equality. In this thesis, I explore alternative ways of reading Yanagi’s Elevator Girls series, which, I argue, call attention to myopic views of commercialism and identity in order to provide an alternative reading of these women as agents of transgression and ideological transcendence. Whereas many viewed Yanagi’s works as a comment on capitalist machinations, where consumerism has produced soulless, vapid feminine identities, I focus on the ways in which these women exercise agency without relying on notions of an individualized, unique ego.

Pourquoi tant d’objets d’art décoratifs de collections européennes se trouvent-ils aujourd’hui dispersés aux quatre coins des Etats-Unis ? A partir de documents d’archives inédits et d’une lecture critique des sources, cette thèse appréhende l’exode du patrimoine européen vers les Etats-Unis du début du vingtième siècle à travers le parcours d’acteurs importants de ce phénomène : les marchands Joel, Henry et Joseph Duveen à la tête de la prestigieuse galerie d’objets d’art et de tableaux, Duveen Frères, établie à Londres et New York dès la fin du dix-neuvième siècle et en 1908 à Paris. Sont d’abord étudiés les stratégies commerciales qui projetèrent les Duveen à la première place du commerce d’objets d’art de l’époque (I). Vient ensuite une analyse précise du commerce d’objets d’art de la firme : celui des porcelaines de Chine, puis des meubles et objets d’art du dix-huitième siècle français et enfin des objets médiévaux et de la Renaissance (II). Finalement, est abordé, l’activité de décorateur de la firme (III). / Why are so many European objets d’art found in collections across the United States today ? This PhD dissertation explores the exodus of decorative arts objects originating from the private collections of Europe’s cultural elite at the beginning of the twentieth century by providing a new interpretation of unpublished archival materials and an in-depth study of the three key figures who contributed to this phenomenon : Joel, Henry, and Joseph Duveen of Duveen Brothers, the prestigious international art firm established in London and New York at the close of the nineteenth century, and in Paris in 1908. Beginning with an examination of the strategies employed by Duveen Brothers to monopolize the American art market and become the preeminent dealers of their time (I), this thesis is followed by a meticulously researched exploration of their dealings in Chinese porcelains, eighteenth-century French decorative arts, and medieval and Renaissance art (II), and concludes with a thorough analysis of the firm’s activities in the area of interior decoration (III).