As an Art Historian, I am fascinated by the manner in which artists gained the fame they have today. I wonder, out of the numerous creative people in the world, how did a few people become so well-known? Was their work superior? Were they just in the right place at the right time? Did they have friends and relatives that were well-connected?
Every time I visit an art fair I wonder If I am looking at teh art of a future "name" on the art scene. When I walk into the studio art classroom at school, I wonder what is needed to help a young artist with talent become an artists that can make a living out of his or her talent?
Today I finally got to reading the January 2012 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine and happened upon an article about art collecting, An Eye for Genius. The article explained how Gertrude Stein and her siblings were fascinated be unknown artists and collected their work. The Steins collected work that caught their eye. Many of the paintings were those that the rest of the public did not have interest in purchasing. It was due to the interest of the Stein siblings that the artists they collected continued to produce work.
The artists the Stein family supported were unknown at the time. They included man maned Matisse, Picasso, and Renoir to name a few. The artists are known today as great masters and their work is invaluable.
I wonder who are the Steins of 2012 and who are the future master artists? Who has the eye to discern talent and to get talent noticed in 2012? Art History is an ever changing discipline. I wonder what artists from my lifetime will be analyzed and studied by Art Historians 100 or 200 years from now?
Watch a PBS Video about the Stein family's collecting.
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