5.17.2010

Some Things Never Change

It seems to me that the whole art business is rotten- to tell you the truth, I doubt if the present enormous prices, even for masterpieces, will last. Is this of great influence on the artists? Not at all, for generally the greatest of them personally profited but little from those enormous prices and they would not have painted less, or less beautifully, without that enormous rise. And whatever may be said of the art business, for the present it will remain so that he who can make a thing worth seeing will always find certain persons interested in it, who will make it possible for him to earn a living. I would rather have 150 francs a month as a painter than 1500 francs a month in another position, even as an art dealer.

Vincent to Theo in a letter dated 27 October 1883, from Drenthe.
Sketch from a letter to Theo dated 28 October 1883.

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