08/06/2024
At every startup competition or venture capital presentation I have ever attended, inevitably someone says something like "I don't invest in products (or ideas), I invest in people".
I've come to realize that being an artist is indeed much like a startup founder. You have a vision you bring to reality, you nurture the idea, think about incessantly. Are others creating something like it? It doesn't matter. The baby is forming and you must give birth to the idea as it was presented to you in your mind.
But ideas are a Dime a dozen. I have hundreds - for real - of ideas for paintings. But I can only share the ones I paint.
That's why some collect art, and others collect artists. When you are selective about where you invest, you realize that what increases the value of a painting over time is the quality of the painter.
Artists have a reputation for being fickle and totally overpowered by "the muse". In between inspirations, they are expected to be messy, broke, insightful, bohemian to a fault, with some dark pasts and uncertain futures.
The reality is that the most prolific masters were disciplined about their craft, never waiting for the muse, but rather chasing her with paint on their brush.
Worse yet, many didn't even enjoy the fruit of their labors because we tend to glorify the dead (male) painters. Their art only became valuable when they were no longer around to sell their work for tens of thousands.
But I digress.
Just like we do with stocks and tech startups, let's do the same with art: invest in those that take their business seriously, and do it while they are ALIVE.
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.
