Art & Cash

Since the cost of starving in a garret nowadays has become almost prohibitive, how is the artist to earn enough money to live? And how can Americans be coaxed into buying more art? Paul Sears of the University of New Mexico's Bureau of Business Research interviewed dozens of painters, sculptors and dealers, published his survey this week under the title The Business Side of Art in New Mexico.

Sample findings:

P:The artist often has to sell his personality before he can sell his art: "The painting people buy will come to live with them for good, and they don't want something by a jerk or a Communist."

P:Many artists overprice their work to impress customers, and the trick often works. ("Here is the best picture in the show--it's got the highest price," is a frequently heard comment.)

P:But such phony pricing also scares off potential customers. As a result, some artists adjust their prices, as some physicians do, according to what the traffic will bear.

P:Many artists sell on the installment plan, opening up a whole new market.

P: Many painters barter pictures for medical care, rent, groceries.

P:Artists think that "a lot of businessmen would like to buy good art cheaply.

How can they do it? By buying the output of an unknown painter, on speculation.* Yet the supposedly adventurous American businessman is very reluctant to take a risk like that."

* A Picasso gouache which was $20 in 1905 is worth about $40,000 now.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.