Young Geniuses and Old Masters: The Life Cycles of Great Artists from Masaccio to Jasper Johns / David W. Galenson, Robert Jensen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Galenson, David W.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Jensen, Robert.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w8368.

NBER working paper series no. w8368

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Creative ability in old age.

Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.).

Masterpiece, Artistic.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Young Geniuses and Old Masters

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2001.

Cambridge, Massachusetts : National Bureau of Economic Research, 2001.

Summary:

There have been two very different life cycles for great artists: some have made their greatest contributions very early in their careers, whereas others have produced their best work late in their lives. These two patterns have been associated with different working methods, as art's young geniuses have worked deductively to make conceptual innovations, while its old masters have worked inductively, to innovate experimentally. We demonstrate the value of this typology by considering the careers of four great conceptual innovators - Masaccio, Raphael, Picasso, and Johns - and five great experimental innovators - Michelangelo, Titian, Rembrandt, C,zanne, and Pollock. Recognition of the effect of an artist's methods on the timing of his contribution appears to solve a puzzle that has been recognized by art historians for more than a century.

Notes:

Print version record

July 2001.