Abstract
Within the cultural sociology of Pierre Bourdieu the value of artworks is conceptualized as the outcome of an attribution of symbolic value by authoritative positions in the artistic field. This paper develops an operationalization of such symbolic investments by presenting them as a process of contextualization. Throughout repeated confrontation with artworks under certain, rather specific conditions, the public learns to establish associations between the perceived elements in both artefact and context. When confronted with an (unfamiliar) artwork, the context therefore offers the perceiver a clue that can be taken into account in the assessment. Using an experimental design, this study presents a collection of paintings by acclaimed artists anonymously to a group of 59 university students. Some of the paintings are viewed in a museum for contemporary art, others in a parish hall. In the legitimate context for artistic presentation the works are appreciated notably more on various criteria.
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