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By Greg Katz
Much to our dismay
as artists there is nothing new in the world. What
has been created is all there is, so how do we
justify our creative endeavors? We focus on how we
take what is known and interpret it into what is yet
to be. In order for that to occur it’s crucial that
we know who our artist ancestors are because they
hold the key to our future success.
Over the course of a
year during my weekly community conference calls I
began celebrating the birthdays of the great artists
of that week. Throughout the year I researched
close to one hundred artists from the 14th
century to the modern day. It’s fascinating to see
the similarities across time.
My intention was for
artists on the call to hear about styles, genres and
paths of development that these masters took to
become the success we know them as today. In
addition, it gave each person the opportunity to
broaden their general knowledge about art history
and its impact on our culture.
Genealogy is the
study and search for one’s family lineage. We get
caught up in the idea of lineage to become more
familiar with out roots. We have a hunger to know
the cultural influences that impact our personal
development. The same is true in the art world.
Knowing who you are a descendant of can be an
enormous resource as you develop your art business.
Having your artistic
history at hand gives you more clout and respect
from potential buyers and collectors. It shows that
you are serious about your profession and understand
that we all have ties to those who walked the path
before…it helps relieve us of arrogance. The other
benefit is that in defining your lineage it will
give you clues as to techniques, tools and materials
that you want to experiment with or become
intimately familiar with as your main mode of
expression.
What the masters
have done is create a legacy. Their inspiration is
a catalyst for our work. Their success and failures
are a testament to the dedication required to become
a successful “working artist”. Our fantasy is that
the masters began painting and were discovered
immediately. Unfortunately that’s not the case and
their journey was much longer than many of you who
claim the title “emerging artist”.
One of the key
components that helped the masters succeed was their
commitment to their apprenticeship. They studied
with accomplished artists to learn the tools of the
trade that would make success a possibility. A
teacher can provide the tools but what you create
with it is up to you. Working as an artist in the
twenty-first century you have the advantage of
technology so you’re learning playground can be
global. Your ancestry may not go back centuries,
maybe only a couple of decades, but the foundation
it provides for your vision is invaluable.
How will you go
about searching your artistic lineage? Do you
already have an idea about your ancestry and what do
you believe is the link between that master and
you? What is it about the work of that particular
famous artist, or that group of artists, i.e. the
Abstract Expressionists, that you relate to? How do
you see it show up in your work? What do you
believe you still need to explore to fully utilize
the gifts offered to you by those who came before
you? How will you know when you have developed the
level of mastery you desire?
They say that
history repeats itself; that may be the case but
each time it gets a little better, at least in the
art world.
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