I’d like to tell you several things this month instead of dealing with only one topic. All subjects of this month’s editorial have come from Opus Newsletter readers who have communicated with me.

“Artists who have made experimental innovations have been driven by aesthetic considerations: their art has sought to present visual perceptions…. In contrast, modern artists who have produced conceptual innovations have been motivated by criteria that are other than visual: their art has been intended to express ideas.” This quote is from the essay, The Life Cycles of Modern Artists, by David Galenson, professor of Economics at the University of Chicago.

Now here is a man of interest. Galenson is an economist who has written essays with titles such as: Quantifying Artistic Success: Ranking French Painters and Paintings-from Impressionism to Cubism; Masterpieces and Markets: Why the Most Famous Modern Paintings Are Not by American Artists; and Careers and Canvases: The Rise of the Market for Modern Art in the Nineteenth Century. Not surprisingly, as Galenson is an economist, his research on visual artists focuses on their economic life. He makes his points in a writing style that is accessible and compelling. Take, for example, this quotation from his essay The Life Cycles of Modern Artists, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in January 2002: “One day in New York City in 1964, Andy Warhol took an aspiring actress named Holly Solomon to 42nd Street. Once there, Warhol tested a number of photo booths until he found one with high contrast. He then left Solomon in the booth with $25 in quarters. Two hours later, hot and bored, Solomon emerged from the booth with a shoebox full of pictures. She later gave the box to Warhol, who selected one of the photographs and gave it to an assistant. The assistant made silkscreens from the picture, and pressed a variety of brightly colored inks through these stencils to reproduce the photograph on nine separate canvases, each 27" x 27". Completed in 1966, the nine panels constituted the portrait Solomon had commissioned from Warhol. Thirty-five years later, on the evening of Tuesday, November 13th, 2001, Holly was auctioned at Christie’s in New York for a price of $2.1 million.”

I have long had a strong interest in the role of the marketplace in the story of visual art. From patron to purchaser, the buyer’s story in the visual arts is an important one. And Galenson really opened my eyes in his telling of the story. And the interesting thing is that his essays are written for investors, not the academic community. By identifying artists as either “conceptual innovators” or “experimental innovators” he believes that investor/buyers know which works by the artists to buy—the early work of “conceptual innovators” and the later work of “experimental innovators.” As he says in his introduction to The Life Cycles of Modern Artists: “This paper shows that Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and the other leading Abstract Expressionists, who were experimental innovators, produced their best work considerably later in their careers than did Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and the other leading conceptual innovators of the generation that followed them. These results not only yield a new understanding of the life cycles of creative individuals, but also provide new insights into the value of works of art.”

His essays are not for everyone, not even many visual artists who want to just get on with making their art. But for those of us with an interest in the art market, his writings are fascinating. You can find some of his work online and accessible for free by googling his name. You can read his copyright-free essay, The Life Cycles of Modern Artists, by visiting www.patenting-art.com/economic/galenson.htm

Once each week for the past two weeks a friend has asked me to attend a meeting. In each case, the meeting was about a change in the operations of the society (The Georgia Straight once ran a feature about me that was entitled The Art Doctor—hence the calls.) The challenge each society was facing was one of renewal. Each one needed to change in order to be relevant to a younger generation—to attract new memberships, revenue and volunteers.

The North American workforce, arts labourers included, faces a big change in the near future, as baby boomers exit the workforce. (The oldest members of the baby boomer generation are 60 in 2006.) Arts board members, as well as volunteers filling other positions, are a vital part of the arts workforce. They too have succession responsibilities to consider.

The editorial content of the past two issues of their newsletter suggests that the Arts in Education Council of BC is also facing the challenge of renewal. This organization has, for 26 years, supported all the arts lobbyists of BC by fighting for a society in which the arts is more respected and to see that respect reflected in the educational and political agenda. In the AGM report of the current issue of their newsletter it says: “… there comes a time when new people and new energy are required…. As with many volunteer organizations today, it has become extremely difficult to attract new volunteers to serve on the Board and to do the demanding jobs that need to be done.”

Have you the time and inclination to help the Art In Education Council of BC? Please, please contact them if you do. They do excellent work. You can contact them by writing to them at PO Box 62023, Arbutus RPO, Vancouver, BC V6J 1Z1.

Finally, regarding a large-scale collective exhibition or alternate self-promotion strategy for BC’s visual artists, I am happy to report that several individuals who attended the Opus-sponsored January meeting at the Planetarium and/or who wrote to me about the subject have now hooked up with the Artropolis Society. They will be undertaking a “visioning” exercise and I will keep you informed of their progress in future editorials and on my tour to the stores this month. See below for the times and dates of my in-store appearances.

Chris Tyrell has a long and illustrious history with Opus. The original editor of The Opus Visual Arts Newsletter, Chris has been writing compelling editorials about the visual arts for almost 20 years!

On consecutive Sundays in May, and the first Saturday in June, Chris will visit each Opus location to meet with you. Are you an emerging artist interested in exposure and visibility? Do you want to discuss the future of Artropolis? Want to know more about a past editorial? Now is the time to ask Chris all of your visual arts questions.