Corporate investment in art: A critical inquiry into art collections of the Turkish banks

Corporate investment in art is a global trend in today's business environment and pivotal for the firms' business strategies in order to enhance their organizational images and prestige. Currently, a great number of business firms, especially those in the financial sector, possess art collections and pursue regular art programs. These collections function in a variety of ways in the contemporary corporate culture and have a great potential to affect the art market. In this context, this thesis examines the art collections owned by the Turkish banks. The aim is to obtain a critical analysis concerning the collecting behavior of the banks, and in particular, to identify the motivations of the banks for forming and developing art collections, to determine whether and how these collections affect the promotion of Turkish art and artists, and also to explore the effects of the banks' commitment to art on their operations. The result of the study is discussed within the related literature and suggestions to the banks for the improvement of their collections and art programs are presented.