This course explores what the late works of great masters can teach us about creativity, artistic evolution, and the human experience. A cursory examination of art history will reveal countless examples of artists pushing through to create some of their greatest works in the autumn of their years. Michelangelo was already seventy-one when Pope Paul III appointed him chief architect of St. Peter’s Basilica. Old age and cataract surgery did not deter Monet from completing his monumental Water Lilies series. Henri Matisse remained energized by the process of making art until very late in his life, laboring daily on the Chapel of the Rosary, which he considered to be the culmination of “an entire life of work.” Marc Chagall painted well into his 90's, as did Françoise Gilot, Picasso's former lover and fellow painter. Other notable examples include Titian’s Poesie series, which he worked on well into his eighties, and Georgia O’Keeffe’s Zen-like watercolors, which she painted in her late eighties, nearly blind from macular degeneration. As of this writing, Edward Rusha, 86, Jasper Johns, 94, Yayoi Kusama, 95, and Alex Katz, 97, are still working, arguably creating their best works. All, without exception, exemplify art's triumph over the trials of old age. Michelangelo's statement, "ancora imparo" (I am still learning), made a year prior to his death at the age of 88, will serve us as a gentle reminder that artistic curiosity and the achievement of mastery are a never-ending process.
Continuing Education Units (CEU) : 0

You'll walk away with

• New insight into famous artists’ lives and creative processes
• Familiarity with the late works of famous artists
• An understanding of how age impacts an artist’s work

Ideal for

• Prospective and practicing arts professionals
• All members of the community—working, retired, and in between