Late Bloomers

A recent article, passed along by a friend, written by Malcolm Gladwell

(The Tipping Point), illuminates this idea that some artists are

fiercely direct and quick with their art. No experimentation, no

search- just an incandescent manifestation of work–Picasso. On

the other hand, there are those, the “late bloomers” (me too) that

sort of grope our way along. Never really sure, but trial and error,

and repeated mistakes eventually lead to some clarification, some results.

Gladwell asserts that Cezanne was one of these types. Never satisfied,

persistently frustrated, although steadily getting better over the course

of his life. The story goes that when Ambrose Vollard, the sponser of

Cezanne’s first one man show, at age 56, hunted down Cezanne in Aix

“He spotted a still life in a tree, where it had been flung by

Cezanne in disgust.”Gladwell emphasizes the vital importance that

the outside patrons , friends, family etc. are for the survival of these

kind of “late bloomers” I have a hunch this is true for most artists.

How many times has a friend said “I love this!” as they pull a painting

out of the garbage can, instantly redeeming it to one of your recent

favorites. The article ends “We’d like to think that mundane matters

like loyalty, steadfastness, and the willingness to keep writing

checks to support what looks like failure have nothing to do with

something as rarefied as genius. But sometimes genius is anything

but rarefied; sometimes it’s just the thing that emerges after

twenty years of working at your kitchen table”