Personally, I think this is really great abstract art. Guess who the artist is? Someone really famous, right? Nope.
Me. Personally, I think I should be a millionaire, but I am not. Not even close. So, in the photo below is abstract art that is worth at least a million dollars. One of his paintings sold for $30 million. I ask you. Do you see any difference between the painting above and the one below?
Me either. Now don't get me wrong. Kandinsky is great and I love his stuff. He has the advantage of being dead. That instantly ups the value of his work. But other than the fact that I can still create art and he, being dead and all, can not...can someone please tell me why I am not shoveling caviar in my mouth on the Riviera with a silver spoon????
Life is not fair. It just isn't. Kandinsky was born into a rich family, and was given a "generous allowance" by dear old dad long after most people had cut the umbilical cord. He never suffered from lack of funds or prestige, no matter what stage of crazy art he was experimenting with. As far as I can tell from his biography, he never suffered, though his paintings did increase in value after he died.
There are countless examples of the unfairness in life. The only consolation God gives is "it ain't over till the fat lady sings." That is not in the Bible, by the way, but the point is that we have to adopt an eternal perspective if we want to see that it all evens out in the end. The story
will come to a satisfying conclusion, but we have to be willing to trust God despite the evidence during our sojourn here on earth. The wicked will prosper, evil will reign, bad things will happen to good people. But God who numbers every hair of our head sees all. In the end, all will be made right. The scales will balance. Those who mourn will be comforted. We will all stand before the Lord and give an accounting of our life to the One who cannot be bamboozled.
Luke 16:19-31
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you
in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner
bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And
besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in
order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and
none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
The difference is that Kandinsky did it FIRST. He was not afraid to be different. He did not worry about the opinions of others, but was true to his own vision. He was groundbreaking at the time, and you can bet that his art was mystifying to many. He was criticized. But his vision was bigger than "making money." If you want to be great, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable. Success leaves clues, but it is never easy. It requires vision, persistence, consistency, and a willingness to push beyond one's comfort zone.
ReplyDeletefine, I will settle for $100,000
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