Candace Bergen caught my attention on television recently, which is a rarity because I never watch her show and conspiratoriously ignore her Sprint commercials. Well, everybody, maybe, except the artists themselves.
Art is a pathetic commodity, economically speaking.
Perhaps this is because most artists are bohemian types who just don't believe in free-market economics, and squatting on principle, refuse to play the smelly game of those capitalist pigs. But the bohemians don't hate money that much. So these days, just like during the Renaissance, a willing patron has been sought and even found by many artists. It's called the federal government. The feds meddling in art.