Beyond the Old-Age Style, Old Art, and Aging Artists

Abstract

A number of facts were learned about the old-age style in paintings: Its artists, their number (Chapter 12), and the distinctive features of their work (Chapter 13). These major accomplishments can clarify questions that have been heatedly debated in art history with more contention than consensus. With two reliable starting points¡ªwhich artists to look at and what to look for¡ªresearch can move forward confidently on other issues. An explanation of the old-age style, for example, is likely to be rather straightforward rather than buried in mysterious, grand, and indecipherable forces deep within the psyche. Probable reasons are likely to revolve about artists’ knowledge and self-acceptance, their ability to make practical accommodations to growing old, and intelligent compensations for physical and sensory losses. To test these assumptions, up to 63 empirically determined characteristics of the old-age style (Chapter 13) can be applied to at least 38 historical artists with an old-age style and 68 without one (Chapter 12).

For the past eight years I have started each day in the same manner. It is not a mechanical routine but something essential to my daily life. I go to the piano, and I play two preludes a fugues of Bach. I cannot think of doing otherwise. It is a sort of benediction on the house. But that is not its only meaning to me. It is a rediscovery of the world of which I have the joy of being part. It fills me with awareness of the wonder of life, and a feeling of the incredible marvel of being a human being.

Pablo Casals,Joy and Sorrows,written at age 93.