These prints offered a low entry level purchase to a wider number of people, and often introduced them to an artist they might later buy an original from. Others perceive artists as shrouded in a veil of mystique and the romantic ideal. Many artists actually remain quite anonymous and detached from the public and the selling process, irrespective of how high profile they are within the gallery environment. A very good one once their reputation and gallery network is established. However, finance can be very tight in the early years with the key problem being inconsistent sales and income.
Artists are no more or less varied then any others.
Some are shrewd and business-like, but many that I know share the common fault of poor money management. Perhaps the government should create an educational course to integrate certain artists into the real world. Aesthetics within society are vital to our feelings of achievement, hope and optimism, adding color to our world and fueling our utopian dreams. Visual arts benefit our living space, our work space, and our towns and cities, creating a positive and uplifting atmosphere and reinforcing our pride towards our community. Already local and central government patronizes the arts more widely than at any previous time, other than perhaps during Victorian England.