Eternal Art Patron

#92026      48″ X 36″       oc

• Caravaggio: “Bacchus” (c.1595)
• Gauguin: “Portrait of Fritz SchuoKlud” (1894)
• Degas: “The Dance Class” (1873-76)

Between dancers exercising in the background and a cellolist performing on the ground floor, sits Bacchus, the young God of Wine. As Dionysus in Greek mythology, the Roman Bacchus blessed the grandiose festivals of the Empire as Patron of the Arts.

In our age of mass media, entertainment business becomes an important enterprise as Hollywood and Disneyland attest. Yet talent young artists, no matter in which field, always need the support of patrons for the flowering of their arts. It’s always the case that governments and official institutes are undependable and bureaucratic, therefore private entrepreneurs sometimes play the role of the art patron, but only lucky ones can be benefited. It’s a pity that there are many Mozarts unencouraged and wasted by the circumstances.

Imagine, if we can shift 1% of national defense budget for the arts, how much can we do for the artists who will reward the society with music, sculpture, mural, dancing, harmony, joy and inspiration¡K.. Such a policy will become an eternal art patron, isn’t it?

– T.F. Chen