I am not saying that the data in the story is wrong, but my (tiny) sample of artist I know and some I have worked with in the US and Norway come from middle class or lower background and they do art because they need to, compelled by an ardent desire / obsession.

None have nest eggs or rich parentes that support them.

They usually have a hard time getting art into galleries. Some run galleries as a collective, but few of those make it into "high society"

A while ago I left my corporate developer / manager to pursue life as an artist. Things to several circumstances not important here, I do not have a nest egg, I make my living off of small stipends when I can get them, and a few other programs that the government provides. (Nice thing in Norway). It is difficult, it is an enormous change in circumstances. Some hurt. I am happier than before.

Perhaps I am hung up on that type of artist. "Corporate" artists might folio the story exactly.

You do have some artists who started late after already having a successful career. They have money and sometimes they have a network of important people to get them into galleries.

Like Howard Schatz who is a great photographer now. After having a long and distinguished career as an ophthalmologist.

Then you have artists like Hunter Biden who can sell paintings for $75K mostly due to fame. (One curator estimates that some pieces might fetch as much as 500K.