Preparing for Success as an Artist

The Detroit Institute of Art (DIA) recently hosted an exhibit of over 70 works by Vincent Van Gogh. I’d dragged my feet about going and got a ticket for the last time slot on the last day, driving ninety minutes on a Sunday night into Detroit in the dead of winter.

It had been decades since last I visited the DIA—sad, really. So I was groping in the dark to figure this out.

GPS got me there, of course, but the DIA did a great job of closing the deal. They had signs directing me to the correct entrance. Once inside, I was part of this industrial machine they’d built to allow thousands of people to enjoy this show.

I’d long held onto the notion that Van Gogh was a tortured genius who mutilated himself for love, and died a struggling artist.

Although he did do the ear thing, he was a master coming into his own with huge potential. Had the dispute that led to his being shot not happened, he likely would have enjoyed immense wealth through his artistic talent.

What I learned is that he also was a genius at planning for success and believing in himself.

The highlight of the show was one of the Starry Night paintings. People were lined up five deep to get a look. And yeah, it's nice.

There were a couple of his self-portraits and the Postman's family portraits. In total, they had about 70 works, which is not a lot out of his total, but gives you a sense of what he achieved.

I appreciated how he hit a new gear around 1887. Up until then, the drawings are clear and compelling. Then he figured some stuff out and they're all bangers after that.

Van Gogh’s creations were laid out chronologically, allowing us to see his development as an artist, how he experimented with colors, shapes, and strokes.

The early sketches, drawings and paintings were fine if a bit pedestrian. Then you glimpse some of the potential in his choice of subject matter, materials, and style. The paint strokes and colors are compelling.

He saw it, as well, as evidenced by some of the letters he wrote to his brother. If you also visited one of the various Van Gogh “Experiences,” you’ll learn how he had high hopes despite the challenges of clawing his way into the art world.

We all dream of being recognized as being a great writer, artist, or musician, but we have to work our butts off to develop whatever talent we’ve been given, and to figure out how to market our work. It’s daunting, but you have to behave like you’re going to be ready once the opportunity arrives.

I'm hoping I figure that out for myself someday. Then it's write like a son of a bitch until I die or lose my mind.

You can’t swing a dead cat by the tail these days without hitting some Van Gogh creation plastered over everyday objects like coffee mugs or tissue dispensers. Art museums want us to appreciate great art, but they also want to sell as many tickets as possible.

The DIA didn’t disappoint in that effort.

The DIA sold tickets in half-hour entrance intervals to control the crowd. They also had a Disney-like queueing system that had us line-up and move us through various exhibits in the museum, giving us art work to appreciate while we waited.

The exhibit area meandered through various rooms. The works were spaced out, allowing enough room for people to surround a single painting five-deep. If you didn’t want to elbow your way to the front of that crowd, you could move to something else, then circle back.

The DIA owns a handful of Van Goghs. They were the first American institution to buy his art 100 years ago. The rest are borrowed, so I'm guessing they started planning this five years before the exhibition. You have to track down various works, contact the owners, negotiate terms, insure the paintings, and arrange transport.

The gallery display would have required similar planning. The DIA shows a lot of art so maybe this was no big deal to them, but you have to arrange the paintings to allow space for a certain number of people, get the lighting positioned, figure out the wall colors most suitable to make Vincent's eye color pop.

It's not like hanging posters on a wall.

In addition, they had educational material printed on the walls to teach while people were also gawking. That stuff takes time.

But it was a great show and the reason I finally went, after it had opened weeks before, is that I kept hearing about how great it was.

I've worked at becoming a successful writer the past 43 years and I know how difficult it is to get people to appreciate your art. We should all approach our craft with the idea of success, and work until we convince ourselves and everyone around us that we've made something beautiful, compelling and satisfying.

It's embarrassing to throw a party and have no one show up. But it's a much greater shame to create something people want but not be able to handle it when they arrive en masse.

If you want to go big in any act of commerce, planning for success is key. You have to expect huge demand and figure out how to meet it.

All artists should take inspiration from Van Gogh's dedication to his craft. His letters reveal how intent he was on success, and how he could feel it happening. He cranked out 900 paintings in his last decade of life.

That one-eared maniac was ready to go viral.

When we're getting ready to open up shop, we should have websites that won't crash under load, email lists that can survive a sudden, viral popularity, and ecommerce systems that can take any method of payment.

And always have them exit through the gift shop.