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Art & Art History vocabulary · Collecting & the Art Market

Commission

Meaning in art & art history, with examples

/kəˈmɪʃən/nounCommon term

In art & art history, commission means: A formal request, with payment, for an artist to make a particular work; also the work made in this way. As a verb, to order such a work.

In Turkish: sipariş, ısmarlama eser, sipariş vermek

How it is used

Historically, churches, rulers and wealthy families commissioned most art; today museums and cities commission public works. Patterns: commission an artist to paint…, a public commission, a work commissioned by… It can also mean the fee a dealer or auction house takes.

Example sentences

  1. The altarpiece was commissioned by a wealthy merchant family for their chapel.

  2. She has just received her first public commission, a mural for a metro station.

Common collocations

  • commission a work
  • public commission
  • receive a commission
  • commissioned by
  • site-specific commission
  • patronA person or organisation that supports artists, usually by paying for works or giving regular financial help; historically, often a ruler, a church or a wealthy family.
  • collectorA person or institution that buys and keeps artworks or other objects, often over many years and around a particular theme.
  • art dealerA person or company that buys and sells artworks as a business, often running a gallery and representing particular artists.
  • site-specificMade for one particular place and depending on its history, architecture or surroundings, so that the work would lose its meaning if it were moved.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Collecting & the Art Market

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