[bemusedthrow75]

> This is kind of the point, in that tying art to the need to make a living used to severely limit the production of art. As we saw this difficulty being overcome, we saw an explosion in artists, and a whole lot of those unable to get paid for their art turned out to produce amazing things. Van Gogh being one of the obvious examples coming out of that.

Fair. But the argument I am responding to implies that making money is antithetical to making art — that artists can’t think about making money if they want to make true art. This is, frankly, patronising bullshit in the fullest sense (not least because it denigrates artisanship in the sense of making truly artistic useful objects).

Arguing for a world where artists should not be respected if they are as focused on their income as anyone else is insulting, not least when great art makes such huge sums and generates independent wealth for its owners once it becomes an asset.

It belittles art itself, as a plaything or an alternative to real work.