Matthew effect in art funding : how reputation affects an artist’s chances of receiving government support

The authors examine how the reputations of visual artists affect their chances of being awarded a government grant. Using unique historical data (1965-2015) on 1) the decisions made by panels about grant proposals, and 2) the exhibition and grant histories of the artists applying, the authors we find that those who are already successful are more likely to receive state support than their less wellknown colleagues. There is a pronounced “Matthew effect” when we conceive of reputation as both an artist’s exhibition history, as well as their success in relation to previous grant applications.