UPDATE!
What I am really wondering here is,
Will our Dealers Survive?
Every artist has a relationship with at least one dealer — even if it is only a one-sided voyeuristic relationship. So it is relevant to ask:
Are they all going to go bust?
And if so, what happens to us? Do we need the dealers, or is the Fall of the Art World (as we know it) the best thing that could possibly happen?
On the one hand, the idea of cataclysmic change is always interesting, especially if it is happening to someone else. On the other hand, if you have been cultivating good relationships with dealers over the course of years, as Hanneke and I have, then the prospect of these people going out of business is pretty distressing. Distressing from an economic standpoint, not to mention from a personal one, since dealers can be pretty nice once you get to know them.
But it certainly does not look good. The New York Times paints a grim picture of the current art market:
Auction houses have begun to report sales that are less than half their level a year ago. In November 2007, the Christie’s evening sale of postwar contemporary art in New York totaled nearly $325 million; in 2008, the same sale brought in just $113 million. A share of Sotheby’s stock, which peaked above $50 in late 2007, now trades in the $6 range. . . the prices of work by young artists . . . are falling like bank stocks.
The world economy is falling apart, but it’s a great time to become an artist.
True, making a living as an artist can be difficult, even in the best of times. But there is more to being an artist than money . . .
Become an artist today and:
- stop wasting your time on the internet
- discover your inner value, even as your stock portfolio’s worth declines
- work hard, and, by the time of the next economic boom, you may well be a successful artist
The last point is critical. Someone else (I think it was Obama) said it in one word: hope.
Remember, the economy goes up and down, but art transcends economic cycles . . . and so can you. Become an artist today!
. . .
What are your creative goals for the Depression?
Related, by Birgit:
Also by Karl Zipser:
How to Store Oil PaintsThings to Ponder
Unfortunately, Karl, by the time this depression ends I’m likely to be dead — or too old to be properly discovered and rewarded. So I just have to think that doing the art is (almost) enough — it’s own reward, or at least it’s part of the reward of participating in the great adventure that living can produce.
Today I was thinking about Time, that old trickster, which sometimes allows us to see things, if we watch carefully, that we can’t take in without spending the time. Specifically, I’m watching the sun highlight and then delete (visually speaking) geologic formations, but I only know that this is happening because I’ve been watching (and making mental notes) for the last 3 weeks. Three weeks is, of course, nothing, but it’s quite clear to me that I couldn’t see much of what I’ve begun to paint if I hadn’t had time to bring me to the point where the sun colored or pointed up the element I’m working on.
So time has its uses, even if it does tend to go on……
It may be a good time to become an artist, but you forgot the part about don’t quit the day job–assuming you have one. I’m fortunate to be in that category, so my creative goals are unaffected by the state of the economy. In this time of flux, I think there is more opportunity for new ideas in any field, though not all new ideas are going to work well.
Karl, my creative goal for the Depression is to avoid depression :-)
Actually, I don’t know if it’s necessarily a specifically good time to become an artist, but if you’re already one, I think it’s a good time to do a bunch of great new work without the distractions of the market.
These cycles always seem like they’re going to last forever (the downs and the ups), but they don’t…
Cool photo, by the way!
Yup!
Editing two pictures, ‘framing’ three others (e.g. finally making use of my acrylics by painting the sides of a board a delicious cadmium red/raw umber/raw sienna or painting parts of a commercial frame) and designing the next one.
hooray for Birgit!
I’m doing landscapes, quite conventional ones, and suddenly am seized with a desire to find something more wacky to pursue. No “framing” of boards, thank heavens.
June,
You’ll soon see the ‘wackiness’ I am pursuing.
So time has its uses, even if it does tend to go on……
June,
At the University of Chicago, my physics professor said, “Time is just one damned thing after another.”
doing the art is (almost) enough — it’s own reward, or at least it’s part of the reward of participating in the great adventure that living can produce.
I agree, I guess this is what I’m saying also. If you are an automaker, you can’t make cars during a depression (or not enough of them), if you are a banker, you may be out of luck, but as an artist you control the means of production. That’s pretty exciting, because a canvas and a few tubes of paint can always become a masterpiece!
In this time of flux, I think there is more opportunity for new ideas in any field, though not all new ideas are going to work well.
Steve,
I think a crisis is always a moment of change. The world in ten years will look VERY different from today. How will we respond to this as artists? I think if only one idea works out well, that is pretty good. Success in art is not so much a percentage thing, as in baseball, but more like a climbing mount Everest thing.
David,
I made the photo in San Diego a couple of years ago, but the significance of it only occurred to me recently.
I don’t know if it’s necessarily a specifically good time to become an artist, but if you’re already one . . .
Some folks say that if your are an artist, you have always been one. Those Wall Street bankers, it seems to me that they were (like) artists run amok. Too bad they didn’t work in a better medium.
I believe the decision to be an artist is personal.
Karl:
But that is a grand medium indeed. And for me it’s becoming medium rare.
D.
Propensity has a role. Makes me think about quilters who have bedspreads to make. Some will punch out something that looks best in the dark, while others will try for beauty – and they can be working under the same conditions. Part of it seems innate to me.
What I am really wondering here, actually, is,
will our dealer’s survive?
I mean, every artist has a relationship with at least one dealer — even if it is only a one-sided voyeuristic relationship.
Are they all going to go bust?
And if so, what happens to us? Do we need the dealers, or is the Fall of the Art World (as we know it) the best thing that could possibly happen?
I lost my dealer. It sucks.
D.,
Sorry to hear that. You’re always welcome to exhibit here…
The great Depression took many artists throughout the states to work on murals. One of our finest artists landed in Reno, where I live. Robert Caples did a fabulous mural at the Washoe County court house. Many people in Reno including myself own his work. So, who knows what talented artists will thrive during this economic downturn. I sure hope me.