Gustave Courbet’s ‘L’Atelier du Peintre” (1854-55).
© Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Patrice Schmidt
Four major artists talk to us about where their obsessions came from — and what they did about the obstacles thrown in their way.
By M.H. Miller
It’s never been especially easy to have a career as an artist (or almost anyone for that matter), but it’s possible that it’s becoming harder. Certain difficulties are evergreen — increasing expenses, the rising cost of housing — and some are more recent. As evidenced by the sluggish auction season in New York last month, even a blue-chip art market that for most of the 21st century was considered recession proof is no longer a sure thing.
