I recently received a remarkable book, These Are Not Your Grandfather’s Medals, by James MaloneBeach. Some of you have probably met or know about Beach. He is married to my long-time friend, Leeny MaloneBeach. Beach is an accomplished metal-smithing artist who has worked for many years on medals. Medals have a long history as objects that are markers of allegiance to a higher authority or, as we know them, as symbols of high achievement. Beach’s medals have been exhibited world-wide, and several pieces can be found in leading museums, including several in the British Museum. The book contains photos and commentary by Beach of medals he has created across his career. The medals draw on classical and contemporary designs and are often humorous and joyous. Some medals also provide ironic commentary on contemporary people and events.
I mention the book for two reasons. It is delightful to read and to see the wonderful range of images Beach has created. And the book covers the whole of Beach’s artistic career, including the most recent years since his retirement from teaching. The book reminded me of an issue we raised in a previous blog, that retirement can involve a continuation of activities that we did earlier in life. And as Beach’s work shows, creative work can be done at a high level.
There is a belief that great artists, musicians, and writers do their best work when they are young. After all, how many great symphonies did Mozart compose after age 35? If you said none, you are right. Mozart died when he was 35. That is part of the reason that we believe that younger artists are most likely to be creative. In the past, many creative people died young, like the rest of the population.
Given a long life, however, many creative people remain creative into their old age. Dean Keith Simonton, who is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at UC Davis, cites examples of people who made major contributions in old age, including J. S. Bach, Verdi, DaVinci, Gailieo, Goethe, Kant, Einstein, and Georgia O’Keefe. Dr. Simonton also suggests that the type of creative work differs by age. Works of creative people when they are young tend to take new and different perspectives, to be paradigm-breaking or as Simonton writes “hot from the fire.” By contrast, creative works by older people tend to emphasize integration of perspectives, complexity, and insight into interrelationships of ideas and people. They draw on knowledge and experience.
I am in no way an artist, but I find something similar in the work I continue to l do with younger colleagues, I find I can draw upon things that I learned in the past that provide a broader perspective or at the least help them avoid some wrong turns in their research. And although I don’t consider myself a creative photographer, I can call upon knowledge from the past to capture images that I enjoy and, importantly, that my grandchildren enjoy. We don’t lose the knowledge acquired over the course of our lives, and that knowledge does not necessarily become obsolete. Having activities that we enjoy and can carry over into retirement or even expand seems like a good way to go.
For more information, here is the complete reference for Beach’s book:
James MaloneBeach (2020). These are not your grandfather’s medals. PolyMarket Press. http://polymarketpress.net
Here is a reference to Simonton’s work: Simonton, D. K. (1990b). Creativity in the later years: Optimistic prospects for achievement. Gerontologist, 30, 626-631.
