The value of art: An analysis of the Chinese art market from a value-driven perspective

This article explores the evolution and distinctiveness of the Chinese art market in the new era from the perspective of the social construction of artistic value. It first reviews the limitations of traditional economic frameworks in analyzing the value of art and highlights the significant role played by the labor force and the uniqueness of labor products in the formation of price and value. The article then analyzes the historical context and temporal characteristics of Chinese art society, especially with the rapid development of the cultural industry, which has placed unprecedented emphasis on the value and price of art. To explain the multiple constructions of artistic value, the article employs a critical constructivist approach, combining Marxist value theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s cultural field theory, to explore the interwoven roles of symbolic capital and cultural power in the art market. Finally, the article proposes a new pyramid framework to analyze artistic value from the perspective of Chinese socialist theory, reflecting the complex social and economic relations in the production and market mechanisms of art.