Historically, artists used to work almost solely by commission. A patron, often a wealthy individual or a religious group, would contact an artist or craftsman, and specify the type of artwork desired. The price of the work was typically agreed upon ahead of time, and the art created was not intended for resale. In fact, commissioned artwork was often site-specific and incorporated into an existing building.

Before an art market could emerge in its modern-day form, three main things had to develop: portable artwork, ways to sell this art, and collectors. The earliest forms of portable art that became popular were tapestries and linen paintings. Most of these were produced in workshops in the Netherlands. By 1460, an exchange building was opened in the port city of Antwerp and the top floor was dedicated to the sale of paintings and prints. As advances in sea travel continued, art was transported from the Netherlands to other European cities, and eventually to the Americas.

Engraving of the Antwerp Stock Exchange (1650).

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, paintings were mostly seen as a way to adorn the walls of one’s home. Most people at this time saw paintings as more or less substitutable – the value of a painting was based largely on its size. In the seventeenth century, however, art collecting became more fashionable. By the early eighteenth century, a whole culture had evolved around the idea of a Salon where the learned and social elite could gather and discuss paintings.