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muckamucks and many
collectors will shun
them. How did this
happen? How is this
fair?
Los Angeles Times
Magazine article on the
very successful artist
Yuroz detailed the
problem in a 4,100-
word article titled,
“Never Mind the High
Praise. How About a
Little Ink?; His Work
Is Priced as High as
$150,000. He's Been
Commissioned to
Paint by the U.N. But
There's No Place in
the World of Fine Art
for Yuroz and Others
Like Him.” This may
be the best piece about
this subject you’ll ever
read and I can’t
recommend it highly
enough if you want
more insight into this
conundrum.
The gist of the 2002
article, which is still
available from the
Times’ archives,
www.latimes.com, for
a small fee of $3.95, is
that Yuroz stayed too
long at Artexpo. He’s
made a fabulous income
and still does, but the
article says the Fine Art
community ostracizes
him. So, Yuroz’ dreams
of art immortality are
dashed as he realizes his
in not going to be
collected by the best
museums.
Yuroz has managed to
become wealthy selling
art, so he has that to fall
back on when he thinks
Posterity or Prosperity (continued from page 5)
about what might have
been. I would tell him
this; the gatekeepers to
Fine Art heaven are
notoriously capricious
and fickle and he might
well have slaved away
in obscure poverty and
still not made the right
impression on the right
people. A scathing
follow up letter to the
editor regarding the
article, (also available
for download on the
Times Website),
viciously attacked him
for his commercialism
and irrelevance and
typifies the art
cognoscenti’s opinion
of many artists who do
too well; Yuroz
included.
I say if you have the
chance to make real
money and become
commercially
successful, take the
opportunity to do so and
let the future decide
your legacy. Just as
Yuroz had no guarantee
he would make it into
the museums he covets,
sometimes those that
are “hot” in in their
lifetime go “cold.”
Julian Schnabel’s career
may typify this
situation.
There is no getting
away from the fact that
business is part of being
a successful artist. True
enough, anyone can and
should make up their
own mind as to what
success means to them
and then try to attain it.
However, from the
outside looking in, there
are standards we all
apply to art careers and
being able to
consistently sell one’s
work is probably the
gold standard. Price
points, competitions and
prizes all add luster to a
career, but having a
viable growing body of
interested collectors
willing to pay to own
one’s art is tremendous
validation that goes
beyond ribbons and
prizes.
I don’t believe an artist
has to sell out to
become successful. In
my book, How to Profit
Market, I refer to Calvin
Goodman’s Art
Marketing book.
Goodman explains how
he disdained posters
until he saw how
Arthur Secunda, the
brilliant painter, colorist
and collage artist, had
managed to have both a
top tier gallery career
and still have his work
produced and sold by
poster publisher,
The bottom line is as an
artist, if you are
selective and effective
in how you market
yourself and your work,
you can have it all. So,
why not strive to do
both? There is no
nobility or romance in
being a starving artist.
Focus on prosperity
with flair, dignity and
style and your
reputation will precede
you into posterity.
Page 6
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