Why Are Artists Poor? The Exceptional Economy of the Arts
Hans Abbing
Amsterdam University Press
I bought this book, after a lot of hesitation, at the ICA bookshop (one of the best, but I forgot to photograph it). Obviously, one of the reasons artists are poor is because they buy books like this on a whim.
Hans Abling is an economist and an artist. A strange yet perfectly formed combination. So he wondered not really why artists were poor, but why there were so many aspiring artists (and this covers music etc as well as visual arts) when the chances of escaping poverty were so remote. And why people kept on making art, even when they remained poor, and just got older.
This book deconstructs the art world, the art market and the actions of artists. It debunks a lot of myths. It is a deeply scary book for anyone who aspires to earn a living from art, as I do. But it is also a great handbook to allow you to see more clearly, to wipe the scales from your eyes.
As I stood in the ICA bookshop, I flipped the book open and read this:
Five interrelated myths are particularly misleading when it comes to deciding whether to become an artist.
1. Making authentic art will be endlessly rewarding. Even when no other rewards are forthcoming, artists receive ample private satisfaction.
2. Talent in the arts is natural or God given.
3. Certain talents in the arts will only appear at a later point in someone's career.
4. Success in the arts depends exclusively on talent and commitment.
5. Everyone has an equal chance in the arts.
And so the myths and delusions about the kinds of chances artists have in the arts, chances that are unthinkable in any other field with its diplomas, old-boys-networks etc, continue to beguile the would-be artists.
There is a lot to digest, and I get the feeling that someone who is an economist and an artist has a somewhat strange view of some aspects of the artworld. But, he does an admirable job of explaining how the artworld works and why it works that way, debunking a lot of myths along the way. Read it and tremble.
