Money, Art, and "Of Human Bondage"
Monsieur Foinet explains my art career ...
W. Somerset Maugham’s novel Of Human Bondage is probably one of my Top 3 favorite novels, certainly Top 5. It explains so much of my life, and of life in general. Maugham had a keen eye for human suffering, self-sabotage, pride, desire, ego, etc. It’s thrilling to see him chronicle my life so well.
The protagonist, Philip Carey, is an orphan. At the start of the novel, he lives with his Uncle William and Aunt Louisa Carey. Philip’s uncle is the local vicar, and very cold, even cruel to Philip. In early adulthood, against the wishes of his uncle, Philip finds himself studying art in Paris. His instructor in art is a Monsieur Foinet.
After some time studying to be a painter, Philip is beset by doubts, and arranges to confront Foinet on the street:
"Pardon, monsieur, I should like to speak to you for one moment."
Foinet gave him a rapid glance, recognised him, but did not smile a greeting.
"Speak," he said.
"I've been working here nearly two years now under you. I wanted to ask you to tell me frankly if you think it worth while for me to continue."
Philip's voice was trembling a little. Foinet walked on without looking up. Philip, watching his face, saw no trace of expression upon it.
"I don't understand."
"I'm very poor. If I have no talent I would sooner do something else."
"Don't you know if you have talent?"
"All my friends know they have talent, but I am aware some of them are mistaken."
Foinet's bitter mouth outlined the shadow of a smile, and he asked:
"Do you live near here?"
Philip told him where his studio was. Foinet turned round.
"Let us go there? You shall show me your work."
Philip, not quite ready for such a sudden critique of his work, finds himself with no choice but to take Foinet around to his rooms. He shows Monsieur Foinet his meager accumulation of art work, and then there is this from Foinet:
Monsieur Foinet rolled himself a cigarette and lit it.
"You have very little private means?" he asked at last.
"Very little," answered Philip, with a sudden feeling of cold at his heart. "Not enough to live on."
"There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood. I have nothing but contempt for the people who despise money. They are hypocrites or fools. Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. Without an adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. The only thing to be careful about is that you do not pay more than a shilling for the shilling you earn. You will hear people say that poverty is the best spur to the artist. They have never felt the iron of it in their flesh. They do not know how mean it makes you. It exposes you to endless humiliation, it cuts your wings, it eats into your soul like a cancer. It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank, and independent. I pity with all my heart the artist, whether he writes or paints, who is entirely dependent for subsistence upon his art."
Philip quietly put away the various things which he had shown.
"I'm afraid that sounds as if you didn't think I had much chance."
Monsieur Foinet slightly shrugged his shoulders.
"You have a certain manual dexterity. With hard work and perseverance there is no reason why you should not become a careful, not incompetent painter. You would find hundreds who painted worse than you, hundreds who painted as well. I see no talent in anything you have shown me. I see industry and intelligence. You will never be anything but mediocre."
Those were just the words that Philip dreaded to hear. Eventually, he takes another path, a very difficult one, and winds up as a medical doctor. I should mention that Philip’s search for a career that might sustain him is only a sub-plot in “Of Human Bondage.” Much of the book is devoted to the subject of the kind of bondage that comes from being smitten with a very bad person.
But I do keep coming back and reading this (bolded) passage from Monsieur Foinet regarding art and money. When I was contemplating being a full-time artist, around 1991, I called up a friend of my brother’s who had taken this path. He told me many of the things he had given up, and some of the things his family had been forced to give up, because he was (this is me saying this, not him) a mediocre artist, and committed to earning his living at art. When we got to the part of the phone conversation where he told me about buying all of his shoes used at the Salvation Army store, I knew that it was time for me to begin looking for an engineering job. And so, essentially, I took Foinet’s advice to Philip Carey: I took a job that could reliably make me money.
The thing is, I have kept up with painting through the last 34 years, while working at full-time engineering jobs. I sometimes wonder what Foinet would say of my work. Probably this: You would find hundreds who painted worse than you, hundreds who painted as well. I see no talent in anything you have shown me. I see industry and intelligence. You will never be anything but mediocre.
I certainly cannot be sorry about the choice I made. Even after 35 years of practicing to be a better painter, I lose thousands of dollars a year on art; I have never once turned a profit. I give away almost all of my paintings, because I am able to sell so few, and they are filling up my house.
I particularly love this part of Foinet’s advice:
It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank, and independent. I pity with all my heart the artist, whether he writes or paints, who is entirely dependent for subsistence upon his art."
Today, I am thankful for my engineering job, with all the trouble it brings, because it has allowed me to continue working unhampered at my painting, and to be generous and independent. Thanks be to God!
Postscript:
I neglected to mention the absolute WONDER of this line from Foinet. It exactly describes many artists these days:
"All my friends know they have talent, but I am aware some of them are mistaken."