Nobody really needs a painting. It's something you kind of create value for in a way that you don't with a company. It's an act of collective faith what an object is worth. Maintaining that value system is part of what a dealer does, not just making a transaction but making sure that important art feels important.
Interpretation
The value of art is subjective and shaped by communal belief rather than inherent necessity.
This quote emphasizes the idea that art holds value not because it fulfills a basic need, but due to the collective faith and appreciation of society. It highlights the role of art dealers in maintaining and communicating this perceived value, ensuring that art is recognized and appreciated for its significance rather than merely treated as a transactional item.
In practice
In a gallery opening speech to highlight the importance of art beyond its commercial value.
My characters live inside my head for a long time before I actually start a book about them. Then, they become so real to me I talk about them at the dinner table as if they are real. Some people consider this weird. But my family understands.
A jazz musician is not a jazz musician when he or she is eating dinner or when he or she is with his parents or spouse or neighbors. He's above all a human being . . . the true artform is being a human being.
Create your own visual style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.
It has taken me years of struggle, hard work and research to learn to make one simple gesture, and I know enough about the art of writing to realize that it would take as many years of concentrated effort to write one simple, beautiful sentence.
There is a majesty in simplicity.
Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions.
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