Question1:

Fierce competition emerged between artists as a result of the free and open art market. Furthermore, the financial restraints / demands (e.g. proto-capitalist society in seventeenth-century Dutch culture) changed the way art was produced, received, and interpreted. There were many artists who attempted to address and deal with these changes. Today’s open and free art market shares similar freedoms, restraints, and challenges.

Do you agree that as a commercial artist you have to recognize the goals of your client and understand their budget? Even if, at times, these criteria place restraints on what you produce or your creative process? Do you think you can truly create art that is exactly how you want it to be if you are using it as income? (250 words)

Question2:
Define the Dutch terms kunstkamer and liefhebber. Explain how in the kunstkamer images in the module, the art collector is able to communicate notions of the public and private identity. How are the art collectors able to employ these images and their collections to elevate their social and spiritual status? (250 words)