Ezra Pound: Patron Buys Artist

Posted by admin on Monday, June 21, 2021

Ezra Pound Money Quote saying the purchase of artworks by patrons creates more art for the world. Ezra Pound said:
 

 

“If a patron buys from an artist who needs money, the patron then makes himself equal to the artist; he is building art into the world; he creates” — Ezra Pound

 

 

This quote from Ezra Pound suggests that patrons of the arts play an active role in supporting and furthering art through their financial contributions to artists. The best interpretation is that Pound saw artistic patronage not just as passive consumption of artworks, but as a creative act in itself that helps bring more art into existence.

By purchasing the works of artists who rely on such sales for income, patrons are directly enabling those artists to continue their craft. In this way, the patron takes on the role of a collaborator or enabler of art, becoming an equal partner with the artist in “building art into the world”.

So the quote casts artistic patronage in an empowering light, as a means through which individuals outside the arts themselves can participate in nurturing creativity.