This article analyzes the contribution of the sociology of art of Pierre Bourdieu both in France and in Brazil. We discuss the importance of his work especially as regards the process of institutionalization and recognition of sociology of art as a discipline. While in France, especially since the 1990s, there has been an increase in the number of authors and a diversification of approaches, the reputation of Pierre Bourdieu as «the» great French sociologist of art grew abroad. In this sense, to measure the name conquered by the author, it is necessary to understand the weight that the reception of his work had outside of France. Brazil was one of the regions to contribute to this centrality which, in Pierre Bourdieu's country of origin, was not so established, because it suffered from competition with other sociologists of art such as Raymonde Moulin, whose own importance is also underlined in this text.