The Art of Lastingness

Is there a link between creativity and longevity (Rodin is pictured above)? As Nicholas Delbanco approaches 70, he himself studies writers and artists who productively delivered deep into their lives.

From a piece in the Los Angeles Times...

What is lastingness? It's certainly a word that's off the beaten track; it seems to belong only to the literary world even though, as Delbanco says in his book, that quality of endurance, or durability, applies to the world at large. Our culture today, he points out, is less welcoming to the old than to the young. Not only do "first novels have a better chance of being noticed than a fourth or fifth," but supermodels, starlets, athletes and that neighbor of yours who just had a tummy tuck all battle "the harsh tyranny of time."

Within the arts, however, the word refers to creating at a high artistic level deep into the arc of life. Think Shakespeare, Giuseppe Verdi and Georgia O'Keefe. For a writer, the challenge is to find a way to stay relevant while remaining true to the artistic impulse. The book "Lastingness," then, is Delbanco's search for answers by turning to the careers of great artists who managed to achieve that — not only in literature but also art and music, artists who maintained a tremendous output of brilliant work late into life.

On a somewhat related note, Susan Jacoby dispels the myth that old age is pleasant and carefree, here.

On a somewhat related note, the Guardian lists the top ten stories on old age.