WHAT Chris Boswell has found, when trying to buy paintings by local artists, doesn’t surprise me (Viewpoints, August 16).

Gallery wall space is expensive and the owners want to hang works that have been produced by artists that are reasonably well known nationally or internationally and that are likely to produce a profit.

One way to be well known is to first be famous in other fields like acting, sport, singing, etc. The world is awash with highly competent artists, many producing things of great beauty.

One journalist discovered that he couldn’t find a hundred painters who actually earned a living from their trade – most of those having to resort to teaching or giving lectures. Today’s fashion seems to be what is known as conceptual – which seems to rely, to a large degree, on being outrageous. These art fashions, normally, only last for a short while, until another one turns up.

Artists often have to second guess what the next one will be. Only time will tell whether a person’s art will fall into the category of great, by which time the artist will, most likely, have died. If you want to buy a really nice painting at a reasonable price, go to local exhibitions or visit one of the exhibitors during Oxford Art Week.

I have sold hundreds, and probably nearer a thousand, works of art worldwide, and who has heard of me?

DERRICK HOLT

Fortnam Close

Headington