Degas: Degas was both an artist and an entrepreneur. In “An entrepreneur in spite of himself: Edgar Degas and the market,” the author writes, “Whether he liked it or not, Degas was both an artist and a businessman; the Romantic (and mythic) dichotomy between the two was not possible in the circumstances of the modern market.”
Diaz and Rousseau: Both of these artists, according to “the dangerous game,” were highly involved with the auction house. In utilizing the house, it is clear that both Diaz and Rousseau were “accomplished players.” Both artists’ involvement in the auction houses “revealed their commercial acumen.” This was especially true for Diaz: the auction represented Diaz’s preferred marketing method for nearly twenty years.
Whistler: Although Whistler was not technically an entrepreneur, he did generate the sale of his work using techniques unconventional to the role of businessman. In Inventing the Modern Artist, Burns discusses how Whistler’s outrageous personality helped elevate him to celebrity status, thus stimulating the sale of his work. Burns writes, “The result of this process was the celebrity, a self-made yet simultaneously media-generated personality, tooled to attract attention to itself, to stimulate interest, to stimulate sales.”
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