Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Mary Cupp
But if making a profit is what defines a serious artist and not just a hobbyist, then what was Van Gogh? I think it depends on your own attitude towards your work. If it is truly your passion andf you feel that this is what you were put on earth to do, then you are not a hobbist, regardless of how much, or little, money you make.
|
Do your perceptions of Vince's "situation" include how brother Theo was connected in the art markets of the time as an art dealer and agent? The proposition that Vin would paint "for the market" while Theo supplied his necessities of life until he could earn his own way was in place almost immediately as he morphed from missionary to "artist". That Vincent's work was never marketable in his own (very short) lifetime as a painter (ten years!) hardly means that his motives didn't include becoming profitable.