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Creativity inspires artistic movements, but what causes innovation in the art market? Exchange of art within and between cultures has a long history. Civilizations, empires, and nations have shared artworks in diplomacy and plundered cultural treasures in conquest from antiquity to the present. The commercial aspect of the transfer of artworks has, however, evolved as the gradual development of the art market over the last few centuries has enriched the political economy of cultural exchange. In this case, "political economy" refers to interconnection of the art market and a shifting balance of global power. Over the past decade in particular, cultural treasures have taken on new significance in east-west and north-south relations, and emerging economies now have a substantial presence in a truly global art market. Trans-cultural appreciation of artworks and the potential of art as a financial investment create an opportunity, if not a need, for science and technology to innovate in deciphering aesthetics and assessing market value. Studies in neuroaesthetics and art indices represent a start in understanding the political economy of art.