The Greatest Artist with ZERO Subscribers

One question I have wrestled with while being on social media is this: do I upload photos and videos for the sake of making a positive impact on people? Or do I upload content just for likes and gratification? Secondly, if social media did not exist, would we be compelled to still produce similar photos, videos, and articles?

The reality is that everything we produce online is on a platform for an audience. Not just your followers, even your friends are your audience.

Now imagine the content your uploading received less likes, comments, and shares than expected. You're a photographer with an Instagram but your platform just isn't growing. You're a videographer but your YouTube subscriber count would probably otherwise. You ask, "Maybe my work just doesn't have value?" "Maybe there's something I should do differently?" "Maybe I should give up on building a brand altogether." This is an all too frequent train of thought for people publishing online content.

Next, imagine that you have produced all this amazing content. Nobody liked it at the present moment of course, but after you passed away people start notice.

These thoughts led me to think about Vincent Van Gogh. He is considered one of the greatest artists of all-time. Many believe him to be The Greatest.

Let’s put his legacy in today's terms.

If Vincent Van Gogh was on social media, he would have had very few followers. He was virtually an unknown as an artist throughout his entire life.

Of course, we're dealing with an entirely different social context here. An artist living in the 19th century does not have the same leverage as a creator in the 21st. Still, we can derive meaning and perspective from Van Gogh, who although tormented as a painter used his own struggles, insight and skills to produce fantastic works.

Here’s a great clip from the show, Dr. Who, which paints a clearer picture for us:

Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) was a Dutch post-impressionist painter known for beauty, emotion, and depiction of nature. The scenes he paints show simplicity in its most colorful, pastoral, or mysterious state. For Van Gogh, it depended not only on what he saw with his eyes, but what he envisioned within the depths of his soul. He spent much of his time as an artist living in Provence, France. Here are a few of his masterpieces:

The Starry Night, June 1889. Museum of Modern Art, New York

The Yellow House, 1888. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

The Potato Eaters, 1885. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Irises, May 1889. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California

Starry Night, 1888. Musée d'Orsay, Paris

There are countless other paintings by Vincent Van Gogh that I could add to this post, but for the sake of time I’ll leave you with just a taste. Analyzing Van Gogh’s paintings and philosophy as an artist is worth it in itself if you do have the time though. For our purposes, let me share with you my experience with viewing his artwork. This involves a little bit of travel…

Let’s take a trip to Amsterdam

I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Amsterdam in the Fall of 2017. It’s quite an extraordinary place when it comes to architecture and sustainable living. It’s also known for a modern arts scene. One of the key museums present in the city is the Van Gogh Museum. Although not the only museum holding Van Gogh paintings, it is the only one dedicated exclusively to preserving and exhibiting his works.

The museum is a stunning and modern facility. After viewing the galleries, I had a newfound appreciation for the artist whom admittedly at the time I knew not much about. Everyone at one point or another has come across one of his paintings (whether that be online, in class, or at a museum), but the value of visiting this museum was its emphasis on Van Gogh as a human being. The museum succeeded in doing its job. His life’s struggles and works as an artist very much resonated with me during this travel experience and gave me a newfound appreciation for the artist.

First things first, Van Gogh’s personal life is sad. He went mentally insane, cut off his own ear, and later committed suicide. There are reasons for these events, but I can’t help but wonder, as many other others believe, that Van Gogh’s lack of feeling loved and appreciated led to his demise.

This is an important lesson for us.

If we derive too much meaning from fellow creator and audience recognition, then it greatly impacts our mental state. Studies have shown time and time again, for instance, that a correlation exists between time spent on social media and loneliness and mental illness. The ultimate reason why I believe Van Gogh was able to still produce magnificent paintings regardless of the lack of interest in his work is that he truly enjoyed painting and he believed in the value of his work. So my advice to you is this: if you upload something stunning and doesn’t gain the traction you desire, or you’re putting in countless hours of work into a platform that isn’t growing, don’t lose heart. Think of Van Gogh. Examine his life. Apply the lessons, the positives and the negatives to your own, and keep on creating.