Art Destructive Myth

One of the most destructive mythologies propagandize by a segment of the art's community and coerced by other creative, is an artist is 'pure" only if they don't promote themselves or create art to earn a living. We've all read or heard in one form or the other, selling one's art is like selling one's soul, real artist don't think about making money, making money selling art impacts an artist creativity. Even though the myths are not substantiated, considered a part of a delusional paradigm and can be connected to many failed art careers.  

There are still artists today, who believe and advocate the myth. You can visit any art group to and you will hear someone preaching the premise behind the purest myth. What perplexing is that we've learned the consequences of this myth by listening to the stories reflecting the many struggles - the artist died penniless, not knowing his/her contributions, or an artist have to die before the artist's work generated any value. These poignant situations can easily be linked to a lack of effective marketing, customer focus strategies and the lack of professional assistance. Artists have been feed purest stories for decades, for some, those tales have seeped into their psyche and has hindered them from achieving their potential and a better life as an artist. The romanticism about struggling perpetrated by the 'purest' goes back to the days of Van Gogh.

The perception of the arts dominated with failure and struggling is based on the countless bombardment of stories about deprivation on one side and vilifying of successful artists on the other. Many of the negative aspects of the arts, as a career choice is echoed by artists and has created the pessimistic halo that besets the field. Many artists remember how it felt to tell their parents they want to be an artist and the instant financial concerns their parent had, not to mention their relatives and friends! 

A recent story pertaining to Vivian Maier, a photographer who shot over one hundred thousand photographic images from the 1950's – to the 1990's. Reflect the poignant effect that such myth have on some artists.  

"During her lifetime, Maier's photographs were unknown and unpublished, and in fact she never developed many of her negatives. A Chicago collector, John Maloof, acquiredsome of Maier's photos in 2007, while two other Chicago-based collectors, Ron Slattery and Randy Prow, also found some of Maier's prints and negatives in her boxes and suitcases around the same time. Maier's photographs were first published on the Internet in July 2008, by Slattery, but the work received little response.[2] In October 2009, Maloof linked his blog to a selection of Maier's photographs on the image-sharing website Flickr, and the results went "viral", with thousands of people expressing interest. Critical acclaim and interest in Maier's work quickly followed,[3][4] and since then, Maier's photographs have been exhibited in North America, Europe, and Asia,[5] while her life and work have been the subject of books and documentary films."

She died before she knew of any of this. It is an incredible story and a poignant one. When the newspapers caught hold of this story, her saga fits the age-old myth of the artist. The newspapers stated Vivian had no commercial interests at all. How infuriating for other artists to read about another artist who had a meager career. It's another story that adds a nail in the coffin for artists trying to earn a living! The way some artist interpret this story is to believe making money off of art, violate the meaning of being pure and, therefore, victimize themselves and demonized others.  

If there is one thing everyone can take from the many tales about struggling, it should be that those stories of struggling artist are from artist who chose to struggle, did not seek advice from professionals and did not value their passion enough to change the way they peruse their endeavor.  

These negative stories are counterproductive and can only serve to bring an artist down emotionally and prevent an artist from moving forward. Look at others with the skills you may lack as partners, not scammers. Invest in getting help which will help you yield a higher earnings. Artwork that is effectively offered to the market is invaluable. An artist who is a forward thinker will contribute to the culture. Today's artist can live and thrive off of their talent, tt the very least, an artist should take the opportunity to try. Embrace the new economy that is all around.

Robert Currie is an executive with the Global Art Network U.S.A. and has worked with artists to improve their career and earn a living. We can be reached at +Global ART Network