Today is July 11 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is “As an artist, do you place your emphasis on money or your art?”
Successful artists who navigate the chaos understand that the creation of art takes precedence over the pursuit of money.
One of the most famous English playwrights of the 19th century understood this. In 2013, a letter by English playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was found in a box stashed at the back of a wardrobe in Oxfordshire, U.K..
The letter revealed the author’s thoughts on how to succeed as an artist. “The best work in literature,” Wilde penned, “is always done by those who do not depend on it for their daily bread and the highest form of literature, Poetry, brings no wealth to the singer.”
The letter, according to an article published in the Telegraph, was found along with the first draft of his sonnet “The New Remorse” — written for his lover Lord Alfred Douglas.
It’s not clear when Wilde penned the undated letter, but the first draft of the sonnet was written just after Wilde and Douglas met in 1891 — around the time Wilde was becoming well-respected in London as a playwright. Wilde also noted “Make some sacrifice for your art and you will be repaid but ask of art to sacrifice herself for you and a bitter disappointment may come to you.”
American artist Andy Warhol noted "Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding make even more art.”
If you are an artist do you place your emphasis on money or your art?
If you would like to be an artist are you prohibiting yourself from creating art because you are afraid it won’t make any money?