There is a particular stereotype of creative genius: that of the youthful prodigy of irrepressible talent. Unlike a surgeon or a politician, the artist is not expected to accumulate years of knowledge and experience before assuming their role. You could say one does not become but rather is born an artist.
Yet history offers plenty of counter-examples. The French post-impressionist Henri Rousseau worked as a toll-and-tax collector until picking up a paintbrush in his 40s. Alfred Wallis, a British West Country fisher, started painting and drawing in his 70s. American folk artist Grandma Moses began producing her New England landscapes at 76; growing so popular that at the age
