I’ve always been interested in what motivates artists to create, and how they choose their subjects or themes. Although there is, naturally, a good deal of variation as to detail, there is a very strong uniting feature in the answers I have received over the years: Artists paint (/sculpt/draw/photograph) what they love, or what moves them deeply in some way. That is what motivates them, the ability to produce something that speaks to what is dearest to them and deepest inside them, and the need to make use of that ability.

I had never really considered things from the other end before – the question of what motivates people to buy art, or what makes them choose what they do. So often we hear of art purchases in terms of investment or ultimate financial gain, or as a sort of status-earning decision. It was our Gallery Director, Angela Di Bello, [...]