An assessment of the economic contribution of painting, as an artistic activity, to the Maltese economy

Abstract

The study sets out to assess the economic contribution of painting as an artistic activity to the Maltese economy. Painting is considered as part of the visual arts subsector within the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI). The study employs primary data which was gathered from the artists, art critics, and galleries and exhibition venues by means of questionnaires drawn up for each of these groups. The questionnaires were constructed so as to understand the economic value of painting in Malta. This was achieved by obtaining the number of paintings produced and put up for sale per painter together with the revenue and costs associated with the said paintings produced and sold so as to calculate the net revenue generated per painter. This was then multiplied by the estimated number of painters in Malta to arrive at the economic contribution of painting as an art in the Maltese economy. The contribution includes paintings which were produced and sold and also paintings produced and put up for sale but not yet sold since these would fall within inventories in calculating the paintings’ contribution to Malta’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The painters were categorised into three categories as follows: well-established, established and beginners, committed painters and hobbyists, and according to which type of art they produce, that is, figurative paintings or abstract paintings. This study excludes painters who paint simply for pleasure since this is considered to be a non-marketed activity which is normally excluded from the GDP. The questionnaires sent to the art critics and art galleries were used to triangulate the results which were presented by the artists. The net revenue of paintings in Malta was found to be €2.7 million for one year, which can be considered to be substantial in absolute terms, although it is only a small fraction in relation to GDP. The study concludes by looking into the future of the arts sector in Malta and evaluating how this may increase its contribution to the Maltese economy through qualitative information obtained from the interviewees.