Abstract

This article aims to characterise transactions taking place in the European art market from the perspective of consumer protection in the European Union. It also attempts to answer the question of whether consumers engaging in transactions involving works of art in the European market are adequately protected by the EU legislator and what means of protection they are entitled to under national law, including when EU legislation proves insufficient.
The text attempts to define the concept of ‘works of art’ on the basis of European Union legislation. It refers to the system of consumer protection in the European Union, before moving on to specific issues such as the conformity of a work of art with the contract, the withdrawal from a contract for the sale of a work of art concluded at a public auction or at fairs and exhibitions, respectively. It also discusses the effects of concluding a contract for the sale of a work of art under the influence of a mistake and refers to the consumer’s declaration to waive the contract. The indicated institutions are discussed based on examples from the jurisprudence of Polish and Frenchcourts as well as the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The last part of the text enumerates the main problems of the European art market from the perspective of consumers’ rights and contains a postulate to emphasise the distinctiveness of this market in European legislation in order to protect the rights of this group of buyers more comprehensively.