In our modern times, artists' sustenance is different. Mainly, artists can sell their wares to the highest bidder. And their motives are also different: for some, the main objective of art creation is fame and fortune; for others, the objective is to shock and preach to a decadent society of the things that we keep doing wrong and by their artistic efforts bring us back to the righteous path. Art, some argue (including Margaret Atwood in her essay "The Writer's Responsibility") should be the voice of the voiceless for social change. A bit arrogant, I think, but to each its own.