The nation’s arts and culture community lauds Ciputra for having ushered in new awareness through his “artpreneurship”.

Ciputra repeatedly stated that, ever since he became acquainted with works of fine art, he always wanted to know their artists better. For him, artists and their creations are inseparable and they should both be positioned on an equal footing.

“I’ve often noticed that when artworks are considerably honored, there’s no mention of their artists, and when they are sold at high prices, their creators enjoy nothing of the economic gain. This is unfair,” Ciputra once said, referring to painter Vincent van Gogh as a classic example.

The traditional thought separating the economic aspect of artists from that of their works has made artists believe that they are not economic beings and are thus sidelined as economic players. So, they have chosen to be mere homo aesteticus (esthetic art creators) and avoid the image of homo economicus (economic actors).

“This case has led to the assumption that artists having to do with the economy are not genuine or true artists. So, they are abandoning the economic world because the public has even from the beginning regarded artists as non-economic individuals. This is a big mistake,” he pointed out.

Ciputra felt that this way of thinking had to change.

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