It has been suggested many times to me there is an unappreciative public for the arts (and thereby the artist) in the Fort Lauderdale area, but is it a fair assessment? I enjoy reading, especially about art and photography, and any history of art makes it clear this condition is not unique to this area or this time. Most of the artists we now enthusiastically call Masters…Cezanne, Van Gogh, Klimpt, the list is too long …were unappreciated, vehemently criticized, or even worse ignored in their time.
It was then as it is today. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century the Academy’s were secure in the lessons of the past, the critics of the media could not fail in hailing the status quo, and any politically based government support was largely self indulgent. So what really has changed? Not much.
Artists, especially the great ones, are the innovators that spear head changes in the direction of art. It is true as they say the cream rises to the top, and this rise is a process that often takes a lifetime or more. This can be felt or deemed to be unfortunate, but it’s true, for some it will be death’s consolations prize.
Recognition, fame and fortune, does it really matter to an artist? Of course, it would be nice and possibly make things easier, not necessarily creatively. For me creativity has been a gut wrenching urge, sometimes painful, on the inside. Again, speaking for myself, it really has nothing to do with anything else.