Will Gompertz: Think Like an Artist

Gompertz’s Think Like an Artist and Lead a Creative, Productive Life is an amazing little book. Very easy to read and packed full of encouragement for the budding entrepreneur creative. I have owned a copy for a couple of years now, since picking it up at the Southampton City Art Gallery.

Chapter 1 ‘Artists are Enterprising’ 

In Chapter 1 Gompertz dissects the stereotypical view of the creative life, that of the poor artist, struggling for their art and earning a poor living. Citing Andy Warhol who famously said, “Making money is art and working is art, and good business is the best art” (Warhol cited in Gompertz, 2015).

Whilst Warhol provided a contemporary artist's success story, Gompertz also draws upon the enterprising ways of historic figures. Rubens was known for travelling around the homes of aristocrats advertising his paintings as the latest trend that the homeowner would be foolish not to acquire if they wanted to keep up with their neighbours. Rubens's early advertising technique is heavily used still, the fashion industry relies entirely upon the drive in its consumers to be wearing the latest style.

Gompertz also debates the stories of Vincent Van Gogh, often portrayed in romanticised narratives as suffering for his art, as a “destitute pauper”. Gompertz asserts that Vincent was an enterprising businessman who worked in partnership with his brother and worked hard to make a return on his brother's investment.

Moving back to contemporary examples, Theaster Gates, an American artist won the Artes Mundi Art Prize in 2015, worth £40,000. Theaster is a sculptor and local activist in the south side of Chicago where he lives and works. Theaster uses debris and discarded items from abandoned buildings to make his art, which he then sells for a large profit, which he in turn invests within his community. When he started, Theaster made a name for himself by exhibiting his pottery as that of a famous diseased Japanese artist, a completely fictitious artist, which led to a highly successful and lucrative sale. Even after Theaster owned up to the deception he continued his success, seen by the establishment as a bit of a wag. Whilst it would appear that to be successful in the art world, one needs to be different, I would suggest that such differentiation is only successful if it is fortunate enough to be sufficiently at the right time, and in the right place, to tickle the palates of the art establishment.

GOMPERTZ, W., 2015. Think Like an Artist and Lead a Creative, Productive Life. London: Penguin Random House