Poverty and Support for Artists

Hans Abbing In our society the value of art is high and yet the majority of artists are poor. Not only the is symbolic value of art high, often the financial value is high as well. People and institutions are prepared to pay high prices for artworks and performances, and governments and foundations spend huge amounts on prestigious new museums and concert halls. But the typical artist is poor. This sharp and paradoxical contrast can be explained: the low incomes are the consequence of the high symbolic value of art. This implies that poverty in the arts is largely structural. Subsidies intended to raise artists’ incomes tend to be futile and can easily be counter-productive.