Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Sacred Art: Who Has the Power to Define Art?
- 2 The Denial of the Economy: Why Are Gifts to the Arts Praised, While Market Incomes Remain Suspect?
- 3 Economic Value Versus Aesthetic Value: Is There Any Financial Reward for Quality?
- 4 The Selflessly Devoted Artist: Are Artists Reward-Oriented?
- 5 Money for the Artist: Are Artists Just Ill-Informed Gamblers?
- 6 Structural Poverty: Do Subsidies and Donations Increase Poverty?
- 7 The Cost Disease: Do Rising Costs in the Arts Make Subsidization Necessary?
- 8 The Power and the Duty to Give: Why Give to the Arts?
- 9 The Government Serves Art: Do Art Subsidies Serve the Public Interest or Group Interests?
- 10 Art Serves the Government: How Symbiotic Is the Relationship between Art and the State?
- 11 Informal Barriers Structure the Arts: How Free or Monopolized Are the Arts?
- 12 Conclusion: a Cruel Economy: Why Is the Exceptional Economy of the Arts so Persistent?
- Epilogue: the Future Economy of the Arts: Is this Book’s Representation of the Economy of the Arts Outdated?
- Notes
- Literature
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
8 - The Power and the Duty to Give: Why Give to the Arts?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 January 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Sacred Art: Who Has the Power to Define Art?
- 2 The Denial of the Economy: Why Are Gifts to the Arts Praised, While Market Incomes Remain Suspect?
- 3 Economic Value Versus Aesthetic Value: Is There Any Financial Reward for Quality?
- 4 The Selflessly Devoted Artist: Are Artists Reward-Oriented?
- 5 Money for the Artist: Are Artists Just Ill-Informed Gamblers?
- 6 Structural Poverty: Do Subsidies and Donations Increase Poverty?
- 7 The Cost Disease: Do Rising Costs in the Arts Make Subsidization Necessary?
- 8 The Power and the Duty to Give: Why Give to the Arts?
- 9 The Government Serves Art: Do Art Subsidies Serve the Public Interest or Group Interests?
- 10 Art Serves the Government: How Symbiotic Is the Relationship between Art and the State?
- 11 Informal Barriers Structure the Arts: How Free or Monopolized Are the Arts?
- 12 Conclusion: a Cruel Economy: Why Is the Exceptional Economy of the Arts so Persistent?
- Epilogue: the Future Economy of the Arts: Is this Book’s Representation of the Economy of the Arts Outdated?
- Notes
- Literature
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
Summary
Serving Art
The other day Alex had a discussion with Robert. Robert makes installations. As far as their reputation in the art world is concerned, Alex and Robert are more or less on the same level. But as far as his career goes, Robert has chosen a different path from the one Alex has chosen. Robert has chosen a path with fewer financial rewards. He operates on the periphery of the ‘avant-garde’ circuit. Every so often an artist from this circuit is invited into the established avant-garde circuit and gains renown in the general art world as well. Although this happens only to a select few, Robert, without ever admitting as much, seems to be waiting for the call.
When they talk, Robert justifies his actions by personifying art. He ‘gives his time to art’. He ‘serves art’. He sets himself apart from other artists, whom in his view are ‘betraying art’. ‘Their solutions are superficial and cheap. They’re not interested in art, so much as pleasing the art world.’ (In Robert's circle pleasing the art world is an even bigger sin than pursuing money.) Alex asks him if art has interests. Robert says it does. Alex believes he is being sincere. According to Robert the interests stem from the legacy of art. Robert mentions some famous artists from the past he admires and who inspire him. At this stage in their discussions Alex always begins to feel a bit inferior and guilty, because he's not as familiar with the works of these famous artists as Robert is. Moreover, Alex has a difficult time seeing the relationship between these artists’ works and Robert's work. But Robert thinks the relationship is evident. (Robert makes installations and sculptures primarily out of mud.) Nevertheless, Alex is impressed by Robert's willingness to sacrifice himself to art.
Earning Less by Spending More Time Working as an Artist
When Alex is employed as an economist, he earns about four times as much per hour as he does working as an artist. If he wanted to, he could easily spend more time working in economics, but he usually doesn’t. And so it can be said that he gives to art what he could have earned had he spent more time in economics.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Why Are Artists Poor?The Exceptional Economy of the Arts, pp. 181 - 202Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2008