Death of the “Starving Artist” in the Age of Digital and COVID

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

-George Santayana

What do artists and entrepreneurs have in common? A lot. Whether they like to admit it or not, the reality is, artists are entrepreneurs. Artists have always been entrepreneurs; art history and our society have been romanticizing and celebrating the “starving,” “solitary genius,” “rebel,” and “eccentric” artists.

In the world of fine arts, Vincent van Gogh immediately comes to mind. He is a classic, textbook definition of “artist.” van Gogh’s thick, swirly brushstrokes in his work have been associated with his mental state. After an argument with his studio mate, Paul Gaugin, the infamous ear lobe incident only accentuated Vincent's identity as the “eccentric” and “disturbed” artist. Van Gogh started his career in the arts as an art dealer and ended up as the “starving” artist. His work was unknown during his lifetime and sold for record prices at auctions posthumously, thanks to his brother Theo’s efforts after Vincent’s death in 1890.

From a purist standpoint, art became the new religion, and therefore, one cannot commodify it. Most artists grapple with balancing their creativity and business as they see “commercializing” and “marketing” their work are taboos or sacrilegious. This is one reason why van Gogh made a career move from an art dealer to a starving artist, to remove himself from the commodification of the art and indirectly receiving financial support from his brother. When it comes down to the business of promoting, pricing, and selling art, artists have been relying on art dealers, gallerists, agents, and auctioneers for centuries.

In Death of the Artist, William Deresiewicz traces 4 paradigm shifts throughout the history of art: the artisan, bohemian artist, professional, and “one-man-band” or independent artist. Nowadays, when we think of artisans, we often associate with crafts, a lower category in the hierarchy of the fine arts. Ancient Greeks and Romans valued artists and commissioned paintings, murals, sculptures, and decorative items to document and immortalize their legacies. In the Middle Ages, the artisans were, in fact, business owners and distinguished themselves from the manual laborers. The “master” artisans were the entrepreneurs, and the “apprentices” were equivalent to today's employees. The aristocracy and church were patrons and supported these artisans. In today's terms, they are comparable to investors. 

As the art paradigm shifted from the religious to secular realm in the ages of Revolution and Romanticism in the 18th and 19th Centuries, the “rebel” and “solitary genius” artists were born. This image of the artist is what we still have ingrained in our minds and culture today. The artists then evolved into "the professional” during the cultural boom in the 20th Century. The art world became more institutionalized as more museums, galleries, awards, residency programs, cultural centers, and MFA programs in universities flourished. Like in any other traditional professions, artists have to accumulate credentials from universities, artists' residencies, fellowships, prizes, and reputable gallery representations. The ultimate goal for most artists is to have their work to be acquired by the museums. The museums or "cultural temples" are a place where artists' work is legitimized and immortalized. Being part of the museum's art collection also detaches the work from financial associations and secures the works from being sold. (There has been a few controversies where museums deaccession a part of their collection to raise funds for other acquisitions/campaigns).

The documentary film Price of Everything also illustrates the transition from "solitary genius" to "professional" artists in the 21st Century. Larry Poons and Jeff Koons represent the dichotomy of this shift, respectively. Contrary to Koons' fame and success, Poons fell off the radar since the 1970s and leads a hermit life in update NY. On the other hand, Koons is at the front and center of the art world and represents the top 1% of artists. What makes Koons so successful? First off, he is very articulate about his work, and Koons is the master of marketing and can sell almost anything, while Poons prefers solitude and reticence. Koons' previous career path as a Wall Street commodity broker and selling memberships at MoMA probably helped brand his career as an artist. As an entrepreneur, he operates his art studio as a company where he delegates the physical making of the work to 100 studio assistants. 

We've now arrived at the 4th paradigm, especially when we faced unprecedented challenges early this year. The age of the internet ushered in more democratic and accessible ways to view and purchase art online. It gave us more flexibility, freedom, and anonymity sans intimidating or unwelcoming staff at the brick-and-mortar art galleries. Although no technology can replace the actual experience of seeing the work of art, we solely relied on technology when the global pandemic struck. The COVID era challenged the art institutions further when they closed their doors and pivot to virtual programming in the last 6 months. Some independent artists have already been leveraging social media to sell their work directly to their followers and be discovered without institutional support and blessings. Despite its tragedies, COVID, in some ways, has a silver lining. It reverted us back to the Middle Age's definition of an artist and has demonstrated the vulnerability of art institutions. We're on the path to acknowledge and celebrate the artists as entrepreneurs.

Do artists still have to starve, die poor, and/or be cultural martyrs to gain recognition in the 21st Century? When it comes to looking at art, we often forget that there’s a person behind the work who also needs to earn a living. As history demonstrated, artists always have been entrepreneurs. Our culture and media have been exaggerating and misinterpreting the tragedies of the artists. In reality, we all know that "talent "alone does not make the artist successful, and the definition of success differs from individual to individual. To help reframe the image of a "starving" artist to an entrepreneur artist, we first need to take the lessons from history and allow the artist to embrace and integrate business skills with their creative work.

This blog post is also published on Medium.