Artistic Self-Promotion

People say a lot of things about the art world without really thinking them through. You've heard them: "My kid could do that" about abstract expressionism. "Art dealers only care about money." "Museums are above all that—they're educational institutions, not businesses." However, without the economic relationship between art and money, artists would starve, dealers and auction houses wouldn't exist. Museums would have to close their doors.

Nobody knows exactly how many artists worked in the 17th century in Europe, though I've seen estimates ranging from 20,000 to 50,000. Today there are probably 500 times that many. These numbers are rough at best, but here's one that caught my attention: apparently only 10,000 individual artists are represented in museums worldwide. That seems low to me ... add a zero or two and it's still nowhere near all the people who call themselves professional artists.

So why are certain artists collected by museums and not others? Yes, galleries promote specific artists ... that's not untrue. But how were those artists chosen in the first place? And why did institutions acquire their work after sifting through all those thousands of other artists?

I'd argue that self-promotion by the artists themselves plays a huge role, and this isn't some new concept. From the Renaissance on, European artists put their own faces in paintings and sculptures to get noticed. Even in commissioned works, an artist would sneak his likeness in there to satisfy his ego, or advertise his prowess showing that some important patron thought he was good enough for the commission.

Take Giotto di Bondone (?-1337). He is believed to have painted himself into The Last Judgement fresco (around 1305) in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. Sure, the donor Enrico Scrovegni is front and center, kneeling at the bottom. But scholars think Giotto slipped his own face in among the saved souls.

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) a painter, draughtsman and engraver, was versatile in his subject matter doing portraits, nature, animals and religious subjects demonstrating his abilities to a wide variety of patrons. He took commissions from royalty, the gentry, as well as the Church. His woodcuts and engravings, that even appeared in book form, won him recognition far and wide. Dürer started early using his own image. Here is a silver-point drawing in the Albertina, Vienna which he produced at the age of 13!

And then there's Rembrandt (1606-1669), who wasn't subtle about it at all. He depicted himself in drawings, paintings, and etchings 80 times. He documented his entire life—from when he was young and ambitious right through to old age. Talk about advertising your skills by creating your own visual autobiography! This 1633 engraving exists in a number of museum collections and the painting is in The National Gallery, London, one of 3 self-portraits he did the last year of his life.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was the master of self-promotion. He's the one who coined "15 minutes of fame." He grabbed every media opportunity, showed up at every important art event, and made sure he was seen everywhere in the art world.

My wife often tells this story: In 1977, as a Met curator, she introduced Dale Chihuly, who's hugely famous today but wasn't yet, to Henry Gelzahler, the head of the Museum’s Department of Twentieth Century Art and a central figure in the contemporary art scene and urged him to acquire examples of Chihuly’s glasswork. Geldzahler acquired two cylinders, which became the first Chihuly works to enter the permanent collection of a major museum. As Chihuly was leaving his office, Geldzahler offered him a piece of advice “Young man, focus more on your work and less on self-promotion.” Geldzahler got that one wrong!

Today, with social media, artists have so many more ways to promote themselves. The tools have changed, but the basic truth hasn't… talent alone has never been enough.