If You're an Artist, Be Patient

Ask any artist, “what is the most essential quality for becoming an artist?”, and they’ll likely answer: “patience.” Because good artists know they aren’t creating art for the current generation, but for the generations to come. They’re building a legacy that will stand the test of time.

Let me tell you a story.

Vivian Maier was born in 1926 in New York City. After a few odd jobs and a few visits to France (her country of origin), Vivian moved to Chicago to work as a nanny. She worked as a nanny for over 40 years. The families she worked for said that Vivian liked to spend her days off walking around the city with her camera. Vivian never married. The kids she took care of grew up and helped her survive in her old age. After struggling with a few age-related illnesses, Vivian died at the age of 83.

Two years before her death, she couldn’t pay the rent for the storage space she rented and the contents of her storage space came up for auction. It mostly contained film negatives. Three art collectors bought these negatives, and they were in for a surprise. The contents of the storage had 1,50,000 negatives depicting the life and people of Chicago over the years. Not just that, Vivian also took a break from work and traveled all over the world to take photographs.

Most of her work went viral after her death in 2009. Today, Vivian Maier is considered a pioneer in street photography. Her photographs had more depth and detail than other photographers of her time. Numerous books, documentaries, and movies were made to celebrate her work.

If you’re an artist, your job is to put out your best work into the world. The world — or a small portion of it — will see it. It may see it in a hundred years or a thousand years. But, they’ll see it. Be patient. That’s the key to building a legacy.