For Love or Money
We are led to believe that commercial success doesn’t come to the best artists, that the best art is done for the “love of art”, not to cater to what others want. Seth Godin certainly agrees with that view: “You have to give the client work that you want your name on… Work that reflects your vision, your contribution and your hand. That makes it really difficult at first. Almost impossible. But if you ignore this rule because the pressure is on, it will never get easier.” Pablo Picasso disagrees with that view. Vehemently. As he once said: “ Few people understand anything about art, and not everyone is sensitive to painting. Most judge the world of art by success. Why, then, leave success to "best-selling painters"?” He goes on to add: “ An artist needs success. And not only to live off it, but especially to produce his body of work… For myself, I wanted to prove that you can have success in spite of everyone, without compromise.” Nassim Nicolas Taleb uses...