Masterpieces rejected by art critics

Despite severe criticism, famous artists continued to move forward and pursue their art with the same passion.

Shoe, by Andy Warhol

Art is a struggle – for everyone. Not just because the creative process involves rigorous mental and physical effort but also because it is a very difficult career path to take. With thousands of struggling creative professionals across the globe trying to “make it”, pursuing art-making can become very discouraging. However, the trick is to keep moving forward despite all the obstacles you face.^(a) And when that becomes hard, it can help to go back and look to the masters for inspiration, artistic and otherwise.

Most masters, as we know them now, did not have it as easy as we think. They struggled too, and more likely than not, a lot more than any of us ever will need to. However, they managed to look past the rejections^(b) and the criticism and focused on their art alone because they believed in themselves. Here are some of the obstacles that a greatest artist faced in his lifetime to inspire you to keep moving forward and make you realize that rejection is just a part of the struggle that evolves you as an artist, not the end of it.

Andy Warhol was undoubtedly the most unapologetically controversial artist of his time. Critics thrashed his works as “aesthetic frauds” and criticized him for reducing art to a “hands-off business”.

In 1956, Andy Warhol donated a work of his (Shoe) to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Soon after, Alfred H. Barr Jr., the Director of the Museum Collections at the time, wrote Warhol a letter rejecting his (free gift!) work due to “limited gallery and storage space”.^(c) “We must turn down gifts offered since we feel it is not fair to accept as a gift a work which may be shown only infrequently”, he explained.

Today, the Museum of Modern Art has 168 of Warhol’s works in their private collection, including the Shoe.

We’ve all been there. The very moment you create something, you open yourself up to critique.

Whether or not you ask for it,^(d) art criticism can be a hard pill to swallow. Training yourself to accept and learn from your harshest critics is one of the most difficult – but most rewarding – skills to develop as an artist. But if the masters could do it, so can you!

TANYA SINGH Adaptado de agora-gallery.com.