How Artists Make Money and How Money Makes Artists

by David Berry

How artists make a living and how money changes art

It may not be the worst time in history to get paid to make art, but it certainly is the strangest. The institutions and markets that have been supporting the arts are undergoing massive changes, some even disappearing. Meanwhile the tools to make art and find audiences have never been more accessible, and there are more people than ever making art.

How Artists Make Money and How Money Makes Artists is an attempt to reckon with the history of money in the arts — from Titian to Taylor Swift — and how that complicated relationship is changing. David Berry analyzes past and present financial dynamics in the arts to show the practicalities of how artists make a living and how that, in turn, affects the reception and perception of artists and their the impacts art has on wider society, how economic realities affect aesthetic judgements of art, what kind of people are able to work as artists, and how political and cultural ideas about the nature of art affect what kind of resources are made available to it.

David Berry explores how art has become central to our understanding of humanity by tying art to what makes the world go money. Along the way, he challenges popular ideas of what constitutes a successful artistic career and considers what our treatment of artists says about us. 

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 14, 2025

Reviews

[Elaine]

Everybody is vaguely aware of the the barren pool that is arts funding these days, but the well-researched, historically-contextualized specifics on exactly how much money you can make from being a competent artist (spoiler: not much) are refreshingly transparent, if suuuper depressing. Berry still leaves us with his inexorable belief in art, though. People are simply just going to try to make art for money until the end of time.

I haven't read long-form nonfiction in ages, so this was a really enjoyable change of pace. His cultural and historical touchpoints felt ultra Elaine-tailored: David Byrne, George Gissing's New Grub Street, ContraPoints, Song dynasty Confucian exams, a Michael Redhill shoutout, the endless humiliation rituals of grant writing... good stuff!!

[Romeo Mfumu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book for obvious reasons. I am an artist, and I love money.
As an artist, I want to learn about how to earn more money from my craft and passion.
What avenues to tap into, what my focus needs to be, etc. I had an expectation of this book to teach me some new things (And it certainly did, I learned a lot of history), but this book came off more as a critique than a book to help artists. I thought the author brought up a lot of great points, a strong history, and strong critiques (and praises). I felt a bit confused, though, because I wasn't quite sure what tone this book was supposed to portray. It left me questioning whether this book is about the history of the relationship between artists and money or a critique. The book could be both of those, but when I bought it, I thought I'd signed up for something different. I still finished the book satisfied, and I'm happy I picked it up. I highlighted many great points the author made throughout his chapters.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate the author's chronological look at and social commentary about Artists and Money. Where we draw the line for Art versus Artisan, as well as who typically can afford to be an Artist was informative. Not to take away from the book, but a summary of this books points could be informative for High school art majors. Not that it would stop them, but it may help them have perspective on the other skillsets needed to have a chance of being able to support themselves via their work.

[Paolo Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Rumi the poet to ContraPoints on YouTube to everything in between, this is a thoroughly researched look at the intermingling of money and art. David Berry does a deep dive on the subject and even gives us the inside look at how this all affects him personally. You can tell a (former) journalist wrote this, and I mean that as a high compliment.