Sept 6th, 2017: Young Artists

Did a parental authority hang your early attempts at art on the refrigerator?
Maybe that was a bad move, maybe that kept you from becoming a famous artist. :cool:

Pablo Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) at the age of 26;
Salvador Dalí completed The Persistence of Memory (1931) by 27;
and Michelangelo unveiled a completed David (1501–4) to the public at 29.
All masterpieces—and all completed before they hit 30.

How did these artists achieve such astonishing results so early in their careers? Innate talent was a factor, of course. But they also started young: Picasso, Dalí, and Michelangelo were all painting by their early teens. Below are childhood works by now-famous artists, each offering a glimpse into the evolution of artistic genius.

But maybe you wouldn’t have become a famous artist anyway. :headshake


link

I call bull on the Edward Hopper one (third grade? That's like 8, right?)

The others are perfectly normal (and the O'Keeffe one at age 14 would get a B at most at my art school.)

Raw talent is plenty around, and technique can be learn. But there's something extra that can't be seen on these drawings yet.

It's cool to see Michaelangelo's teen fascination with monsters and gore :-D

Hopper's was draw on the back of his 3rd grade report card.

I would have guessed Breughel or Bosch for the teen aged Mike's piece.
He actually sort of copied it from some guy named Schongauer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schongauer,_Martin_-_St_Antonius_-_hi_res.jpg

Yes, he started with Schongauer's engraving and painted it adding the background and fish scales, as explained at the link.

The Dali is rather disappointing, particularly since it took him four years to complete...

Ha ha ha. It's painted on the back of a postcard but they don't know exactly when.