Genius!

The readings this week talked about the subject of geniuses. What makes a genius? How does something that is commonly associated with educational subjects relate to art?

Immanuel Kant discusses genius as something that is hard to come by and is very valuable. He claims that it is something that can not be passed on to others nor learned. You are just born with the skills of a genius. You are naturally gifted. That is how it is related to art. Science and math can all be taught where as someone who is being creative and expressing themselves through art is using their own skills and knowledge. So someone who is considered an art genius creates things that exposes things and subjects that are often hidden. If what Kant is saying is true about not needing education to be considered a genius in the art word, then why are there some many colleges with students enrolled in the art programs.

Nochlin talks about the problem of schooling and genius when she argues that the problems stems from the manner in which artist are taught and molded in an educational setting. She goes on to discuss how women have had a hard time establish themselves in the contemporary art world because there have been no great women art predecessors. I think that this is an interesting point coming from a woman. Do you think that a male would feel the same way about a "female artistic genius"?

Overall, I think that when most people hear the word genius, they automatically associate it with someone like Albert Einstein or a famous doctor but many overlook the art world's geniuses. It is something that I think most people do not recognize, including myself.

Questions:
1. What qualifies someone as being a genius in the art world?
2. Who are recent art geniuses?