The folk artist is usually satisfied with somewhat more anonymity; he is less concerned with aesthetic context, and less with spec...ifically aesthetic purpose, though he wants to satisfy his audience, as does the popular artist. His art, however, tends to be thematically simple and technically uncomplicated, its production--the folk song, the duck decoy, the tavern sign, the circus act--not so strongly influenced by technological factors. Popular art is folk art aimed at a wider audience, in a somewhat more self-conscious attempt to fill that audience's expectations, an art more aware of the need for selling the product, more consciously adjusted to the median taste.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The elite artist knows that his audience views his art in a context of certain predispositions; he anticipates success or failure ...within a definable framework of theory and achievement. His audience is acutely aware of him as an individual, knowing that his primary concern is the interpretation of his individual experience, and that he is personally with the content and technique of his product. The popular artist, however, works under no such set of rules, with a much less predictable audience, and for much less predictable rewards. His relationship with his public is neither direct nor critical, for between him and his audience stand editors, publishers, sponsors, directors, public relations men, wholesalers, exhibitors, merchants, and others who can and often do influence his product.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »