do artists support each other?

[Santtu Määttänen]

I purchase cd:s, paintings, photographs, books, postcards, etc. All the time.. I try to purchase one art piece per year (at least), that's something we all can actually afford and it really makes a difference for the artist in question. But I never buy from retailers or pieces of dead artists works. I want to support those that still do their part, develop their work and contribute to the art societies. Retailers don't deserve the provisions, unless they really work for the artists for their money. Real promotion, sales work and critique. If they charge the artist for their space and then take a huge cut, they don't deserve my money.

If artists don't support each other, how could we expect others to do so. I don't buy crap, only pieces I really like. But there's so much of those that it's not a problem of finding lovely pieces, it's choosing which ones to purchase.

 

[nikonhswebmaster]

Retailers don't deserve the provisions, unless they really work for the artists for their money. Real promotion, sales work and critique. If they charge the artist for their space and then take a huge cut, they don't deserve my money.

Most "retailers" are not just parasites, but only for a very few artists, much like in the music Industry. Few are chosen and developed, and made rich by the galleries, it is expensive to have a few thousand square feet of gallery space in big cities, where there are art buyers.

Once an artist friend enters that arena, I usually cannot afford their work, it is not unusual to find my more successful friends selling work for more than I earn in a year. Of course artists give and trade work.

 

[Roger Hicks]

.. . If artists don't support each other, how could we expect others to do so. . . . .

Well, unlike most artists, they can go and earn money, then buy our work...

More to the point, why should any artist be expected buy any other's work?

Like Fred I read it as financial support, based on the original post. Who's got the money? It's a bit like the famous (but apocryphal) quote from Willie Sutton about why he robbed banks: "Because that's where the money is."

What is the philosophical difference between buying a work of art, a restaurant dinner, or another pair of shoes (assuming your old ones aren't worn out)? In an economy of plenty, it's hard to see any.

Cheers,

R.