John Michael Montias (3 October 1928 – 26 July 2005) was a French-born American economist and art historian, known for his contributions to cultural economics, particularly related to Dutch Golden Age painting.
Born in Paris to Jewish parents, Montias was sent alone to the United States at a young age in 1940, in order to escape the Battle of France during World War II.
His first article on the subject, "Painters in Delft, 1613–1680," was published in the 1978–1979 volume of Simiolus, and is credited with helping invigorate the study of the economics of art.
This line of research culminated in a book titled Artists and Artisans in Delft: A Socio-Economic Study of the Seventeenth Century in 1982.
After leaving the Getty, he continued inputting the material on his own and added significant data, all of which was eventually given to the Frick Art Reference Library.