Self-Marketing in the Works of the Artists

A special issue of Arts (ISSN 2076-0752).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 20269

Special Issue Editor

Department of the Arts, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Interests: eclecticism; Bolognese painting; Carlo Borromeo; Guercino

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For an artist at the outset of his career, it would seem natural to try and impress his viewers and search among them for a powerful patron by producing the most compelling artwork possible through actions that, in today’s terminology, we could describe as marketing choices towards the creation of an effective commodity. Much scholarly writing has been devoted to patronage and to consumption habits. However, little research has been devoted thus far to artistic strategizing in the marketing of works of art. Indeed, the question of the self-promotion or self-presentation tactics employed by ambitious young artists, in their artistic production, on their quest for fame and success, remains to be explored in depth. This line of inquiry holds tremendous potential for better understanding the artist’s motivation and its impact on decisions about how to approach a commission by a wealthy, high-ranking, or influential patron. In some cases, the artist’s wish to impress his patron is clearer than in others. This is especially true when we notice a deviation from a traditional iconography, or some form of stylistic virtuosity, in an early work by an artist.

The aim of this Issue is to focus on such case-studies through the ages and through different cultures.

Prof. Dr. Daniel M. Unger
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1658 KiB  
Article
The Recipe for Success: Repin’s Painting Barge-Haulers on the Volga and Stasov’s Conception of Russian Art
by Ariela Shimshon
Arts 2021, 10(4), 85; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/arts10040085 - 14 Dec 2021
Viewed by 3785
Abstract
Barge-Haulers on the Volga is one of the most famous works of the Russian realist painter Ilya Repin. As I demonstrate in this article, on the one hand, it brought Repin resounding success and, on the other, it molded his creative conception. The [...] Read more.
Barge-Haulers on the Volga is one of the most famous works of the Russian realist painter Ilya Repin. As I demonstrate in this article, on the one hand, it brought Repin resounding success and, on the other, it molded his creative conception. The Russian art critic Vladimir Stasov outlined the artist’s success. In March 1873, Stasov’s poetic depiction of Repin’s painting, where he expressed his admiration for Repin’s talent, focusing on specific aspects that he contended had to be included in a perfect work of Russian art, was published in the daily newspaper Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti. I attempt to show that Stasov’s praise had a devastating effect on Repin’s creative process. By examining Repin’s post Barge-Haulers successful works for this pattern, I show how the painter tried to incorporate every one of the “ingredients” that Stasov outlined and ultimately created a typified group of paintings documenting life on the periphery of the Russian Empire with those features, which marked his entire career. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Self-Marketing in the Works of the Artists)
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10 pages, 270 KiB  
Article
Branding Baldung
by Larry Silver
Arts 2021, 10(4), 70; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/arts10040070 - 14 Oct 2021
Viewed by 2471
Abstract
Hans Baldung (1484/85–1545) emerged as an artist under the shadow of Germany’s most famous contemporary artist, Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), thus as a younger rival with considerable catching up to do. His time as a young artist with Dürer in Nuremberg (1503-ca. 1507) prompted [...] Read more.
Hans Baldung (1484/85–1545) emerged as an artist under the shadow of Germany’s most famous contemporary artist, Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), thus as a younger rival with considerable catching up to do. His time as a young artist with Dürer in Nuremberg (1503-ca. 1507) prompted Baldung to develop his own innovative imagery, even as it prepared him with the skills of later activity in drawings, woodcut prints, and, finally, paintings. Nuremberg also gave him his first contacts with prestigious patrons, local at first but also farther away, surely through Dürer’s well established network to nobility in Saxony. Afterward, once he was out on his own, Baldung quickly turned his acquired skills and recognizable style into his own definitive, deeply pessimistic imagery about human limitations and mortality, especially when measured against the awesome, holy magnitude of Christ and the saints. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Self-Marketing in the Works of the Artists)
26 pages, 11918 KiB  
Article
Cutting Edges: Professional Hierarchy vs. Creative Identity in Nicolas de Launay’s Fine Art Prints
by Tamara Abramovitch
Arts 2021, 10(3), 66; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/arts10030066 - 13 Sep 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3571
Abstract
In 1783, Nicolas De Launay copied Les Baignets by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, stating it was made “by his very humble and very obedient servant”, an evidence of the hierarchical tensions between painters and printmakers during the eighteenth-century. However, De Launay’s loyalty is not absolute, [...] Read more.
In 1783, Nicolas De Launay copied Les Baignets by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, stating it was made “by his very humble and very obedient servant”, an evidence of the hierarchical tensions between painters and printmakers during the eighteenth-century. However, De Launay’s loyalty is not absolute, since a critical artistic statement is found at the edge: an illusory oval frame heavily adorned with leaves and fruits of Squash, Hazelnuts, and Oak. This paper wishes to acknowledge this meticulously engraved frame, and many more added to copies throughout De Launay’s successful career, as highly relevant in examining his ‘obedience’ and ‘humbleness’. With regard to eighteenth-century writings on botany and authenticity, and to current studies on the print market, I offer a new perspective in which engravers are appreciated as active commercial artists establishing an individual signature style. In their conceptual and physical marginality these decorations allow creative freedom which challenges concepts of art appropriation and reproduction, highly relevant then and today. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Self-Marketing in the Works of the Artists)
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24 pages, 6757 KiB  
Article
Visualizing Superman: Artistic Strategizing in Early Representations of the Archetypal Man in Comic Books
by Bar Leshem
Arts 2021, 10(3), 62; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/arts10030062 - 31 Aug 2021
Viewed by 6497
Abstract
In 1933, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish teenagers from Ohio, fashioned an ideal personality called Superman and a narrative of his marvelous deeds. Little did they suspect that several years after conceptualizing the figure and their many vain attempts to sell [...] Read more.
In 1933, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish teenagers from Ohio, fashioned an ideal personality called Superman and a narrative of his marvelous deeds. Little did they suspect that several years after conceptualizing the figure and their many vain attempts to sell the story to various comic book publishers, their creation would give rise to the iconic genre of comic book superheroes. There is no doubt that the Superman character and the accompanying narrative led to Siegel and Shuster, the writer and artist, respectively, becoming famous. However, was it only the appealing character and compelling narrative that accounted for the story’s enormous popularity, which turned its creators into such a celebrated pair, or did the visual design play a major part in that phenomenal success? Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in the comic book medium in several disciplines, including history, philosophy, and literature. However, little has been written about its visual aspect, and comic book art has not yet been accorded much recognition among art historians. Since the integration of storyline and art is what allow the comic book medium to be unique and interesting, I contend that there should be a focus on the art as well as on the narrative of works in comic books. In the present study, I explore the significance of the visual image in the prototype of the Superman figure that Siegel and Schuster sold to DC Comics and its first appearance in the series American Comic Books. I argue that although the popularity of Superman’s first appearance was due to the conceptual ideals that the character embodied, the visual design of the ideal man was also an essential factor in its success. Accordingly, through a discussion of the first published Superman storyline, I emphasize the artistic-visual value of the figure of this protagonist in particular and the comic book medium in general. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Self-Marketing in the Works of the Artists)
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18 pages, 7205 KiB  
Article
Marketing and Self-Promotion in Early Modern Painting: The Case of Guercino
by Daniel M. Unger
Arts 2021, 10(3), 55; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/arts10030055 - 18 Aug 2021
Viewed by 2718
Abstract
This article focuses on Guercino’s Return of the Prodigal Son, commissioned in the name of Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi and on his marketing choices. This is a case study in terms of self-promotion tactics employed by an ambitious artist. My argument is that [...] Read more.
This article focuses on Guercino’s Return of the Prodigal Son, commissioned in the name of Cardinal Alessandro Ludovisi and on his marketing choices. This is a case study in terms of self-promotion tactics employed by an ambitious artist. My argument is that one finds in the painting a secondary and more sophisticated level of interpretation, which relates to the relationship between the painter and his patron. To the most traditional iconography of the scene, Guercino added musicians and spectators, thus positioning the entire composition in the theatre. One of the musicians is depicted in a way that casts him as a representative of the painter. The patron understood Guercino’s intentions and commissioned what became Guercino’s most important artworks. It was Guercino’s ability of shifting the attention of a given iconography and deliver current political meaning that is discernible in his Roman works commissioned by the same Cardinal Ludovisi who was elected Pope Gregory XV. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Self-Marketing in the Works of the Artists)
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