The Art World: Money is not the problem

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January 4, 2019

A soul-searching article by exasperated art critic Jerry Saltz. How does the art world live with itself? Great question, and Saltz’s piece is well worth reading. (Thanks to Michael Newberry for the link.)

But: The problem is not “Too much money!” in the art world. The problem is bad ideas working with bad character. Money is only a tool, and it is used only according to the ideas and character of those who have it.

Suppose you’re an art buyer with a billion in the bank. The money will not force you to buy crap. You will buy crap only if you like crap, or have no idea of the difference between crap and worth, or don’t care that it’s crap and only want to be part of the in-crowd.

Or suppose you’re a financially struggling artist: Your desire for money will not make you produce crap. You will produce crap only if you like crap, or don’t know the difference between crap and worth, or have so little integrity that you’ll give up your artistic goals for money.

We want lots of money in the art world. If we think money is the problem, then the solution is to remove the money. But taking a few billion dollars out of the art world will not solve anything. A generation ago when the art market was half its current size, the art world had exactly the same problems. And those were the same problems it had two generations ago when the art market was half again the size.

This article was originally published by Stephen Hicks at stephenhicks.org. We have reprinted it with permission.

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Stephen Hicks Ph.D.

About the author:

Stephen Hicks Ph.D.

Stephen R. C. Hicks is a Senior Scholar for The Atlas Society and Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University. He is also the Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship at Rockford University.

He is author of The Art of Reasoning: Readings for Logical Analysis (W. W. Norton & Co., 1998), Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault (Scholargy, 2004), Nietzsche and the Nazis (Ockham’s Razor, 2010), Entrepreneurial Living (CEEF, 2016), Liberalism Pro and Con (Connor Court, 2020), Art: Modern, Postmodern, and Beyond (with Michael Newberry, 2021) and Eight Philosophies of Education (2022). He has published in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics, and The Wall Street Journal. His writings have been translated into 20 languages.

He has been Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Visiting Fellow at the Social Philosophy & Policy Center in Bowling Green, Ohio, Visiting Professor at the University of Kasimir the Great, Poland, Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College of Oxford University, England, and Visiting Professor at Jagiellonian University, Poland.

His B.A. and M.A. degrees are from the University of Guelph, Canada. His Ph.D. in Philosophy is from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.

In 2010, he won his university’s Excellence in Teaching Award.

His Open College podcast series is published by Possibly Correct Productions, Toronto. His video lectures and interviews are online at CEE Video Channel, and his website is StephenHicks.org.

Instagram Takeover Questions:

Every week we solicit questions from our 100K followers on Instagram (a social media platform popular with young people. Once a month we feature Stephen Hicks' answers to select questions, transcripts below:‍

Also several articles, selected for likely interest to Objectivist audiences:

‍“Egoism in Nietzsche and Rand.” The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 10:2 (2009), 1-43
‍“The Postmodern Critique of Liberal Education.” Reason Papers 41:1 (Winter 2019): 60-89
‍“What Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us All About Life.” The Wall Street Journal. May 2, 2016
‍“Why Art Became Ugly.” Navigator 7:7 (September 2004), 5-11
‍“Does Kant Have a Place in Classical Liberalism?” Cato Unbound, October 17, 2016
‍“Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics.” Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy 3:1 (Winter 2003), 1-26
‍“Objectivity for Actual Human Beings.” Social Science Research Network, 2022
‍“Jordan Peterson’s Religious Facts and Values.” Academia.edu. Sandra Woien, Ph.D., editor, Jordan Peterson: Critical Responses, Chicago: Open Universe, 2021

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