5.The Really Old Masters (No Longer Available)

Program Description

Many artists die far too early - Masaccio, Raphael, Caravaggio, for example - others are granted the privilege of great age which allows them to communicate an entirely new set of values in their work. Priorities change, and youthful enthusiasm gives way to a more profound understanding of the human condition.   Physical or mental frailties may be a factor, but often maturity brings with it a new clarity and lucidity.

This series of discussions will cover the period from the Italian Renaissance to Impressionism. Donatello's David and Mary Magdalene, Michelangelo's early and late Pietas, Titian's shift from brilliant colour to mood and atmosphere - these are the kinds of progressions that will be examined. Baroque masters like Bernini, Rubens and Rembrandt all underwent significant changes. Did Goya go insane because he used toxic lead white and sucked his brushes? Did a particularly insidious red pigment contribute to Renoir's rheumatoid arthritis? In what way did partial blindness affect the later works of Monet and Degas?

Discussion Leader

Francis Broun teaches art history at the Ontario College of Art and Design, the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Women's Art Association - among other places. As his own retirement looms, he draws strength from the idea of artists continuing to grow and improve until the bitter end.

Books

Martin S. Lindauer, Aging, Creativity and Art: A Positive Perspective on Late-Life Development, Springer 2003, ISBN-13: 978-0306477560 (This book is expensive. You may wish to seek it at your local library.)