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09/27/2004: "A Belated Thank You - Mr. President"

One of the great works of the nineteenth century , is the collected correspondence of the artist Vincent Van Gogh ( 1853 - 1890 ). His letters are the story of one of the most original and influential artists of European art whose creativity was unfortunately only recognised after his death. 874 letters allow us to enter Vincents world and discover the genius of this man who changed the history of European art and left a vast volume of work which is described in his long and revealing letters. Theo Van Gogh and his wife Johanna Van Gogh - Bonger were responsible for preserving the works and letters of Vincent Van Gogh. Without their support , we would probably never have heard of Vincent Van Gogh.



In America, in the 1930's Democratic President, Franklin D.Roosevelt, set up one of many projects ( a scheme of recovery programmes after the Depression ) which played a vital role in the development of American art. Without this support and the recognition of the artists need to work, the artist would have remained as usual on the margins of society. The Project - Public Works of Art and later called Works Progress Administration ( WPA ), recognised the artists worth in society, no longer isolated and useless but workers in the work - force. By paying artists to paint , the artists would devote their energies to art with little distraction. This oppurtunity to concentrate on painting changed the attitude of a number of artists towards a career in art, a notion that would never had occured only for the existence of the WPA. In the first 5 months of operating it employed 3,749 artists, who produced 15,633 works of art for public institutions ! It is worth remembering that Roosevelt was the only president to be re-elected 3 times 1936 - 40 - 44. He fulfilled his promise of a New Deal for American people, by starting relief prodrammes, to aid employment, help industrial and agricultural recovery, a New Deal that was to include the artist as a valuable asset in society. This was more than 60 years ago !

The Roosevelt Project was interested in the predicament of the unemployed artist and wanted to create work for as many as possible - painters, photographers, designers, teachers, sculptors, this was open to all regardless of artistic qualifications. The WPA established 103 community art centres, it created a cultural renaissance, endeavouring to integrate the arts with the daily life of the community. This Project only existed due to a concerted effort to support and develop the artists lot, which in due course developed a new audience for art. Without this focus and determination generated by a farsighted government ( in Van Gogh's case, his brother Theo ) the development of American art and the discovery of unknown artists which led to a constant exchange of ideas, would have not occurred.
These structures of support for the arts, whether they are individual or group, play an indispensable part in the developing and nurturing of the artists desire to create. The WPA project like anything else, was not perfect, it had its flaws. But we cannot deny the fact that it changed the course of art and social history in reinstating the artist as part of the community.

Due to the WPA's success in their endeavours, and the dedication of artists to art, deepened by a change in their social position, we can appreciate today, the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothco, Adolph Gottlieb, James Brooks, Philip Guston, Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt, Hans Hofmann, Arshile Gorky..............the list is endless, who were all involved in one way or another with the WPA. Their influence continues today and will have far reaching effects in the future. The WPA ethos has been misappropriated on ocassions by some unscrupuless individuals who create celebrity artists overnight for pure monetary gain. Lets hope there are genuine patrons out there who may contribute to perhaps another cultural renaissance, lets not leave it to the role of the dice...

As Vincent stated in one of his letters - May 1888

- " The painter of the future will be a colourist such as has never yet been..... This painter who is to come - I can't imagine him living in little cafes, working away with several false teeth and going to the Zouves' brothels, as I do. But I think that I am right when I feel that in a later generation it will come, and that as for us we must work as we can towards that end, without doubting and without wavering..... I believe that there will come a time when it will not be necessary for me to earn a living in any other way than by painting ".

(A large selection of images from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum)

Replies: 6 Comments

on Thursday, October 14th, Cheryl D. Navickis said

Excellent article... well thought out. Great responses too!

on Wednesday, September 29th, Brad Michael Moore said

John, Wow - I got so worked up in my response (below), I forgot my first thoughts over your piece which were, excellent choice of subject, and first-rate depth of research on the topic. Look forward to your next piece.

on Tuesday, September 28th, Brad Michael Moore said

Well spoken, Walt. My greatest fear today is that we might have GWB for 4 more years, and the effect that'll have on the American arts, the environment, our economy, and our place in the world. It seems we're slowly working towards Third World status and too many Americans are dying for the wrong reasons. It is ludicrous for us to believe that we’re meeting the world’s terrorists in Iraq. We’re only dying at the hands of insurgents and regional fighters who can’t find a place to play war in their neighboring countries. Real terrorists remain where they really are – all over the world, planning and exercising their feats all over the world. Meanwhile, we’re distracted, and bleeding out our national resources in Iraq. Perhaps, after four more years of this destructive, misguided political plundering – life, as we know it, will be a like an old dream and artists, once again, will be thrust towards the limelight as they create their art to remind us of the road not taken, and the effect of our government’s short-sightedness, and the price we all will have to pay for that misguidance. The part of my blood that is Irish, is envious of the homeland from which it came. Will our being in Iraq quell the bloodletting forever there, or in Africa, or Malaysia, or South America? It must be amazing that our government should think so, and that voters would swallow such a cup of hemlock.

on Tuesday, September 28th, john nolan said

Walter,
unfortunately since the 70's the tax system for artist in Ireland has opened the flood gates, all the wrong people are artist now !
The people making on it are the big earners , rock bands, composers, writers , it has become an haven for such like. The artist is like any other artist any where in the world , whats the point of being tax exempt if you have no earnings ?
I admire the Roosevelt system because as far as I could glean from it, the system was adhered to by the right people and no one took advantage of it or abused it. It ran its course and produced some amazing artists. It reminded me of almost a modern day renaissance set up.
In Ireland we have Arts councils where by artists can apply for grants, but unfortunately like everything else, it operates within a select group, the usual suspects - a golden circle.
I assure you Walter the artists life is just as rough here as it is in the USA regardless of tax systems, because as you said the profit never comes back to the artist even if they do find something commercial that is saleable.
Anyway I cant see the tax exemptiom lasting here in Ireland, because of something called a Single Eupopean Act, and the fact that the government wants more revenue, but again it will be the small guy they hit not the big guys who have amassed fortunes due the exemption.
What do think of co-ops, something on the lines of what the young brit pack did in the Uk - Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin et al who got togehter after college and staged their own shows, outside of the so-called art establishment ?

on Tuesday, September 28th, walter king said

I've only been once to Ireland and didn't really get to tap into its art world at all. So I'm not familiar with how the tax incentive is doing. In the States the state of the arts is pretty rough on artists. It seems the same everywhere I go. To survive artists either have to find something commercial that sells, learn to write grants (which have dwindled in recent times) or go for broke and try for the big time for which there are really only a few slots at any given moment.

I'm afraid the U.S. would never choose to exempt artists from taxes. We're not seen as big business so no one sees it as a good thing. And of course many believe that it would open the flood gates to anyone who splashed a little paint on a canvas or collected some odd items and put them in a row (and called it an installation)would try to capitalize on it.

I personally would like to see a change in the way we handle the arts at both the state and national level. It is in fact big business. There isn't anything manufactured or marketed that isn't touched by an artist at some point in it's creation from cars to cigarettes. And this doesn't even take into account how artists will move into a seedy part of town with low rents and revitalize it within a few years only to be bumped out when those with disposable capital come in and raise the rents. The smart artists find a way to buy their own buildings when one of these booms takes place if they are lucky enough to have the capital or credit when the moment is right.

Artists themselves are a big market. Note that competitions make most of their prize money from artists entry fees these days. Used to be you didn't bother with shows that charged fees because they were vanity shows. There are very few really big prizes anymore. Again, an artists used to win a big award of say $10,000 back in the 60's and could live off it for a year. Today top prizes run in the realm of $500 on average and that isn't even enough to pay rent for a month. And has anyone noticed how many curators and critics are hired to judge these shows? Few are juried by our peers today. Seems we can't be trusted to make good decisions about our own craft.

Art & craft supplies are over priced under the auspices of being something really special even if you can find the same product (sometimes under a different name) in your local hardware store for a quarter of the price. So serious artists have to become very cagey about what they know about their materials, otherwise they will never recoup a dime even if they start selling at modest prices.

Most of the profit doesn't come back to the artist at all. We tend to be expected to serve as a cheap raw resource which is sold by the bushel like soy beans. All the money is made down the line long after it has passed from the artists hands. So we tend to be left to act like Millet's Gleaners picking up the scraps.

I don't have any ideas about how to change this. But I'd be interested in hearing some. The current regime in the U.S. would never accept a Roosevelt style WPA program. They see it as Socialism hence evil. What ever the solution is it would have to be something like a tax incentive that doesn't actually require direct government funding. But that won't work at the moment because the President has gotten the country so far into debt. And any solution would require selection for excellence. This is problematic because no one can agree on what standards to set for excellence these days as it always leaves someone out of the equation.

I always come back to the fact that artists must become much more self reliant and entreprenuerial. The result is that nothing changes.

on Monday, September 27th, Roger Cummiskey said

Great to read the article John. But, remember that we have had our own champion of the arts here in Ireland, namely Charles J Haughey. He may not have had the resources of Franklin D.Roosevelt but his personal interest in and encouragement of participation in the arts led to the creation of Tax Free status for Irish artists in a bold and innovative move. We are currently the envy of artists throughout the world because of Mr Haughey's foresight.

This foresight also has helped to encourage so many people to become artists and has attracted artists to Ireland. Take a bow Mr Haughey!