Fine art has been inseparable from commodification since modernity began.

Evidence

Although Richter’s foot is firmly planted in the peripheral domain of the fine arts, his other foot is as firmly anchored in the central domain of capitalism. As the philosopher and literary critic Kojin Karatani has perceptively remarked, “ever since” in modernity “art came to be art, it has been connected to commodification.” That artists have often resisted, and continue to resist, these malevolent tendencies is not as much a weakening of this argument as it is a confirmation of the power of commodification. — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 70

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes Benjamin’s work on art’s aura and reproduction, and Adorno’s culture industry thesis. — connects to: Modern art openly admits it is a commodity rather than hiding its market status — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 118
• SEED: An essay angle: the auction price as the ‘frame’ of every painting — how art-world discourse about Richter is dominated by price, not aesthetics.