Backlinks over content

[A Sketch In Time]

I have been reading a lot about website rankings and I kind of get the impression that backlinks are more important than website content. Within the amount of posts I read that were moderated, a majority of the replies were related to quality backlinking even though the sites themselves contained quality content. Why is there so much emphasis on quality backlinks as oppsed to the content within the site? For example, our site [link removed] is a pencil sketch and drawing site with galleries and areas to purchase drawings and prints. Although we have links to art supply dealers, why would someone looking for supplies go to our site if they were looking for art supplies, hence most likely them being an artist, and the same could be said for art galleries and art retailers? I can understand us linking to our art suppliers so that our customers can see the quality supplies we use, however, why would someone use our backlinks to get to us using the stated example? So again, why are backlinks more important than the content of the individual sites themselves? Why can't each website rank be based off its own merit instead of shirttailing off of others?

Thanks,

A Sketch In Time | Capture time with A Sketch In Time