--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Part of the difficulty in trying to be…" description: "\"Part of the difficulty in trying to be both an artist and a businessperson is this: You make a picture because you have seen something beyond price; th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-difficulty-in-trying-to-be-b_2987457.jpg" --- # Part of the difficulty in trying to be both an artist and… ![“Part of the difficulty in trying to be both an artist and a businessperson is this: You make a picture because you have seen something beyond price; then you are to turn and assign to your record of it a cash value. If the selling is not necessarily a contradiction of the truth in the picture, it…” quote by Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-difficulty-in-trying-to-be-b_2987457.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-difficulty-in-trying-to-be-b_2987457.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/robert-adams-4362_art_part-of-the-difficulty-in-trying-to-be-b_2987457.jpg) > “Part of the difficulty in trying to be both an artist and a businessperson is this: You make a picture because you have seen something beyond price; then you are to turn and assign to your record of it a cash value. If the selling is not necessarily a contradiction of the truth in the picture, it is so close to being a contradiction—and the truth is always in shades of gray-that you are worn down by the threat.” [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Balancing artistic vision with market demands creates tension between authenticity and profit. **In simple terms:** Artists struggle to price truth without compromising it. Key Takeaway Find ways to value art without losing integrity. Themes art business integrity conflict valuation Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - gallery pricing - commission work - licensing - crowdfunding - brand partnerships Key Concepts aesthetic value economic pressure ethical compromise Questions to Reflect On - How can you price your work while staying true to its meaning? - What systems protect artistic integrity? A Different Perspective Market forces can dilute creative authenticity if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Artist Businessperson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist-businessperson-4677523/) [Businessperson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/businessperson-887808/) [Businessperson Make](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/businessperson-make-4677524/) [Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cash/) [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Difficulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficulty/) [Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gray/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Photographer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photographer/) [Records](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/records/) [Selling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selling/) [Selling Necessarily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selling-necessarily-4677526/) [Shade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shade/) [Shades of gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shades-of-gray/) [Threat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-is/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Turns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turns/) [Value Selling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value-selling-4677525/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Worn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worn/) ## Related quotes > [“Nothing will teach you more about perceived value than taking something with literally no value and selling it in the auction format. 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She makes all my decisions for me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coco-lee/i-m-not-a-businessperson-i-have-no-sense-of-money-my-mom-does/) [Coco Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coco-lee/) > [Tyra the businesswoman is very close to - and I hate third person, but you said it, oh, chiiild, you said it - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyra-banks/tyra-the-businesswoman-is-very-close-to-and-i-hate-third-person-but/) [Tyra Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyra-banks/) > [The success of a businessperson can be measured by the problems she has successfully solved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-success-of-a-businessperson-can-be-measured-by-the-problems-she/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Certain people are just saying, 'Look, I'm a businessperson and I have to run a business effectively and I want people who are going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-julius-wilson/certain-people-are-just-saying-look-i-m-a-businessperson-and-i-have/) [William Julius Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-julius-wilson/) > [A professional, well-dressed golfer, like a businessperson, gives the impression that he thinks that the golf course and/or workplace and the people there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/a-professional-well-dressed-golfer-like-a-businessperson-gives-the/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [I think you need a really strong businessperson running the state, a person who's used to turning negatives into positives, which is what happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-curb/i-think-you-need-a-really-strong-businessperson-running-the-state-a/) [Mike Curb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-curb/) > [Good people need room to develop. They have to find their own voice . . . each IBMer is a businessperson working within the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-rodgers/good-people-need-room-to-develop-they-have-to-find-their-own-voice/) [Buck Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buck-rodgers/) > [I don't really count myself as a very sophisticated businessperson. I'm a creative artist. All I know from business I've picked up along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-jagger/i-don-t-really-count-myself-as-a-very-sophisticated-businessperson-i/) [Mick Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-jagger/) > [You know, you don't have to have money to be a successful businessperson. You don't need a college degree. You just need a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farrah-gray/you-know-you-don-t-have-to-have-money-to-be-a-successful/) [Farrah Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farrah-gray/) > [I'm a businessperson. I'm used to dealing with friction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-scaramucci/i-m-a-businessperson-i-m-used-to-dealing-with-friction/) [Anthony Scaramucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-scaramucci/) > [“The businessperson can therefore know the exact dollar profit on a product, but not the exact dollar value of the brand, the advertising, or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-adams/the-businessperson-can-therefore-know-the-exact-dollar-profit-on-a/) [James Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-adams/) > [Being an entrepreneur means being a creative businessperson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-hanson/being-an-entrepreneur-means-being-a-creative-businessperson/) [Isaac Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-hanson/) > [You always help out a local businessperson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-valastro/you-always-help-out-a-local-businessperson/) [Buddy Valastro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-valastro/) > [The primary reason in starting a business part-time is not so much to make a product great. The real reason for starting a part-time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/the-primary-reason-in-starting-a-business-part-time-is-not-so-much-to/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) ## More by Robert Adams > [Among the most compelling truths in some of the early photographs is their implication of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/among-the-most-compelling-truths-in-some-of-the-early-photographs-is/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Philosophy can forsake too easily the details of experience… many writers and painters have demonstrated that thinking long about what art is or ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/philosophy-can-forsake-too-easily-the-details-of-experience-many/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The experience of life that you and I have is pretty much a jigsaw puzzle in the box: Day-to-day experiences of disconnected pieces that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-experience-of-life-that-you-and-i-have-is-pretty-much-a-jigsaw/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [“Everything is simplicity there is nothing to do. There is no place to go. There is no thing to become. You are that, just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/everything-is-simplicity-there-is-nothing-to-do-there-is-no-place-to/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [When art is defined by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, you've got a society that's impoverished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/when-art-is-defined-by-damien-hirst-and-jeff-koons-you-ve-got-a/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [When photographers get beyond copying the achievements of others, or just repeating their own accidental first successes, they learn that they do not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/when-photographers-get-beyond-copying-the-achievements-of-others-or/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [A lake that is noisy cannot reflect anything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/a-lake-that-is-noisy-cannot-reflect-anything/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [No one, though has to go to college to make or understand or enjoy art. Wonderful artists and critics - some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/no-one-though-has-to-go-to-college-to-make-or-understand-or-enjoy-art/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Still photographs often differ from life more by their silence than by the immobility of their subjects. Landscape pictures tend to converge with life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/still-photographs-often-differ-from-life-more-by-their-silence-than/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Almost all photographers have incurred large expenses in the pursuit of tiny audiences, finding that the wonder they'd hoped to share is something few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/almost-all-photographers-have-incurred-large-expenses-in-the-pursuit/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [You've always been free. You've always been bright and shining. Everything else is just nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/you-ve-always-been-free-you-ve-always-been-bright-and-shining/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The thing that keeps you scrambling over the rocks, risking snakes, and swatting at the flies is the view. It is only your enjoyment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-thing-that-keeps-you-scrambling-over-the-rocks-risking-snakes-and/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [Why is Form beautiful? Because, I think, it helps us confront our worst fear: the suspicion that life may be chaos and that therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/why-is-form-beautiful-because-i-think-it-helps-us-confront-our-worst/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [All land, no matter what has happened to it, has over it a grace, an absolutely persistent beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/all-land-no-matter-what-has-happened-to-it-has-over-it-a-grace-an/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [The only things that distinguish the photographer from everybody else are his pictures: they alone are the basis for our special interest in him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-only-things-that-distinguish-the-photographer-from-everybody-else/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) [Explore all 112 Robert Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Part of the difficulty in trying to be both an artist and a businessperson is this: You make a picture because you have seen something beyond price; then you are to turn and assign to your record of it a cash value. 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