Dedicated to all the artists out there. We see you; We respect you.
Artists give birth to and raise their baby – masterpieces with the utmost amount of patience and care, to prepare them for their final appearance before the world. But what of the artist when this work is not acknowledged and valued at much, or in most cases, barely noticed at all?
According to the article titled ‘Why There Are No More Van Goghs’ by Ian Thomsen and Lia Petronio of Northeastern University based on the research conducted by Albert-László Barabási, “there have been very few rags-to-riches stories.” In the age that we live in, success is defined by audience – the number of views, likes, shares, reposts. Contrary to the popular belief of the possibility of gaining sudden recognition after multiple years of struggle, the dismal truth is that if an artist hasn’t been recognised early in their career by the art-world, they are unlikely to ever accomplish the highest level of success.
The Centre for Complex Network Research, Boston, reviewed the careers of 496,354 artists based on data collected from 914,681 exhibitions and auctions held in 24,809 galleries, museums, and auction houses. For those artists whose first five exhibitions were held in low-end galleries and museums, only 14 percent were still active in the art world a decade later. Those artists who essentially debuted in the top 20 percent of institutions went on to enjoy a more entitled run”.
Point being, Art is a beautifully crafted medium of creative expression. Be it in any form – painting, sculpture, literature, cinematography, music or dance, it employs endless efforts and countless hours to produce, and minutes to consume. It is easy to take something as precious as the personification of someone else’s thought processes for granted when one’s getting it for free. The process of creation, and not the end result, is where all the magic lies. Perhaps we could try in the least bit to appreciate this orderly chaos that has, since time immeasurable, served to depict cultures and individual identities alike.
Manasi Mathur