broke some of the time. Good work will sometimes not sell.
People will buy but not pay promptly. The market may be
rotten even when the work is great. I cannot control these
factors. Being true to the inner artist often results in work
that sells—but not always. I have to free myself from
determining my value and the value of my work by my
work’s market value.
The idea that money validates my credibility is very hard
to shake. If money determines real art, then Gauguin was a
charlatan. As an artist, I may never have a home that looks
like Town and Country—or I may. On the other hand, I may
have a book of poems, a song, a piece of performance art, a
film.
I must learn that as an artist my credibility lies with me,
God, and my work. In other words, if I have a poem to
write, I need to write that poem—whether it will sell or not.
Art happens—no hovel is safe from it, no prince can
depend on it, the vastest intelligence cannot bring it
about.
JAMES ABBOTT
McNEILL WHISTLERI need to create what wants to be created. I cannot plan a
career to unfold in a sensible direction dictated by cash flow
and marketing strategies. Those things are fine; but too
much attention to them can stifle the child within, who gets