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Art Patronage Along with a host of cliches that make up popular, particularly filmic, presentations, is the image of the starving artist, taken under the wing of a wealthy and titled person, commissioned to paint family portraits and often, at a later point in their career, falling out with the "patron" in their quest for greater artistic integrity. Historically this relationship was central to the development of an artist's career, with painters such as Velazquez and Goya being able to develop their style as a result of ongoing periods of employment by the Spanish Royal family. Similarly the development of the Renaissance was seen to run parallel to the rise of the wealthy and powerful Medici family, patrons to significant artists such as Masaccio and Michelangelo. The other important patron from the Renaissance to the Baroque period was the Church. Patrons often demanded a lot of artists, and the relationship between artist and traditional patrons sometimes became fraught (for example, when Cardinal Carafa famously became intensely dismayed at the display of nudity in Michelangelo's 'Last Judgement' (1535-41). This frequently led to interesting artistic developments, for instance, Michelangelo originally refused to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at all, until Pope Julius II proposed that he could paint whichever biblical figures he chose. The resulting work constitutes one of the finest religious paintings ever. Patronage Today Patronage of the arts today is quite different. Whilst many people and institutions still have a desire to own commissioned portraits and other works of art, contemporary artists often concentrate on producing works that do not fit within this remit. It is likely that an artist who accepts commissions for portraits and works for private collections today, will take work from many sources, relying on no single "patron" to support them. This offers many artists the freedom to produce the works they wish to; however, in a great many cases, it does not afford them the economic freedom and time to experiment in order to develop their careers and practice. Whilst the relationship between traditional patrons and artists is now rare, collectors, institutions, business and artists still derive great mutual benefit from forming some sort of relationship, especially the younger and emerging artists and those working in a more conceptual format. In the market place currently there are a limited number of artist residency, internship and associate artist schemes. These are few and far between and quite limited in scope. There is also a gap in the market when it comes to Societies and groups linking with business. Banks and financial institutions have come on board in recent years to "sponsor" one off events and art fairs, but again the scope has been limited and fairly short term in nature. The most noteable exceptions to this are BP and the annual portrait prize and the Threadneedle Prize competition, which have proved highly successful for all involved. Also, there have been some amazing success stories achieved through funding via charitable foundations, for instance the Rootstein foundation project (rhfoundation.org.uk); but, again these are relatively short term in nature. |
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Pure Arts Group is the trading name of Pure Arts Limited - registered office: The School Creative Centre, New Road, RYE TN31 7LS. Company No. 7547791 |
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