You sound motivated. However, a couple of things; if you are a professional artist, you sell to eat - otherwise you have a day job and paint for yourself. Second, there are only two painters I've ever heard of whose work went up soon after their death: Gauguin and Van Gogh. In most cases there is a slump in prices even for major players soon after their passing. Historically, artists peak 3 years or so before their death as far as prices go... this because many can't work the last few years.
I think I know the performers you refer to and I agree, but even real and great artists - Michelangelo, Raphael and Da Vinci - performed and vied for the popes' commissions. It is a component of the business; producer of art and collector of art. For all the real and imagined glory, poetry, and heights fine art may soar, reality is still part of this field. Painters and sculptors learn this, often as a rude shock upon art school graduation. Their teachers have salaries and jobs that may liberate them so they often fail to mention it to their young disciples.
