Arts in Aging

The HCOA salutes the "Arts in Aging" as a complement to a good life long lived. We are interested in the works of older artists.

Older people are not only teachable, but they teach us. As health professionals we're constantly switching back and forth from our roles as learners to being teachers of our patients, their families, and our own students who constitute the next generation of health care providers.

We are also constantly searching for the "art" of teaching and we are inspired by great works of art and great artists. Such is the life and works of Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), arguably one of Spain's greatest artists, often called the last of the Old Masters and the first of the Moderns.It has been said that to teach is to learn twice. Thus, Aun Aprendo, a self-portrait by Goya painted at age 80, which translates from old Spanish as "I am still learning," is a perfect metaphor for all of us being better teachers through the pursuit of lifelong learning.

The splendid artists for the 2009 calendar -- still alive, still painting, still providing us with enjoyment -- represent four countries and range in age from their eighth to tenth decades of life! We have much to learn from these teachers Here's what to look forward to seeing all next year.

2009 ARTS IN AGING CALENDAR

Huffington Center on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine

Huffington Center on Aging salutes the “Arts in Aging” as a complement to a good life long lived. In this 14th edition, we again feature the works of older artists from throughout the world still painting, still providing us with enjoyment. This year’s group ranges in age from 72 to 93. Some were born abroad or had immigrant parents. Goethe correctly said that “Science and Art belong to the whole World and the barriers of nationality vanish before them. ” The scenes and people the artists painted depict life in Europe, North and South America, and Africa; the eclectic look of the calendar is indicative of the wonderful differences in people worldwide. Born in the first part of the last century, these artists remind us daily that older people are important contributors to the quality of our lives. Their creativity is timeless and the beauty their eyes saw, we see in these wonderful works.

CREDITS:

1. January – Ice Patterns, Marianne Letasi (1937-); private collection, Birmingham, MI. At age 72, Ms. Letasi’s photographic art captures nature and people in a way that only true artists can. Her long career in this genre continues. Aren’t we the lucky ones?

2. February – Wash Day in Peru, Edward Shapiro (1924-); collection of the artist, Houston, Texas. Dr. Shapiro, age 85, is a local dermatologist whose practice of the art of medicine parallels his art on canvas. This scene of a young woman washing clothes gives us a glimpse into someone else’s life in another hemisphere.

3. March – The Garden Gate,Paul Sansom(1932-); collection of the artist, Palm Springs, CA. Mr. Sansom, age 77, formerly of Austin, has a style of art that “invites” you into his works, especially the door of the casita. What or who awaits the visitor?

4. April – View in Italy, Matty Kahn (1917-); collection of the artist,New York,New York. I first learned about this wonderful artist as a subject in an award-winning film, Virtuoso, a story of a lady in New York who learned to play the cello in a very short period of time. This fascinating, true story is about how the producer and cellist, Biana Kovic, taught Matty, now 92, to play the instrument in one month. Maybe she’s not Yo-Yo Ma, but learning to play the cello at age 90 gets her first chair in my orchestra.

5. May – Mother and Child, Helen Oake Mellon (1916-) collection of the artist,Manhattan Beach, California. This 93-year-old, national award-winning artist whose works were in the Smithsonian for three months during 1962 still exhibits regularly in Southern California. Her long record of artistic achievement exemplifies what successful aging is all about.

6. June – Cubist Flowers Bright Red, David Adickes (1927-); private collection, Houston, Texas. Mr. Adickes, age 82, is an accomplished painter known more for his sculptures – e.g., in appreciation for the one of President Bush at the Houston Intercontinental Airport, he was invited to the White House and slept in the Lincoln Bedroom. He also did the Sam Houston Statue on I-45 just south of Huntsville. It is the largest sculpture in America other than Mt. Rushmore. Of all the artists’ studios I’ve visited over the last 15 years, his is one of the more interesting ones. He let me choose anything I wanted. This one of a vase of flowers piqued my interest. Where were these placed and for what occasion? Did they evoke just the right mood? Would Picasso like them?

7. July – Burning Sun, Leila Gadbois (1927-); collection of the artist, Houston, TX. I learned of Mrs. Gadbois, age 82, when I went to her home in River Oaks to meet her artist husband Henri who had been featured in an article in The Houston Chronicle as one of the best painters of Texas Bluebonnets. His work was in our 2008 calendar. His wife’s in the 2009 edition. This painting hangs over the fireplace in the living room of the home in which she was reared. It lights up that room like a July sunrise does when it peeks over the horizon.

8. August – Amalfi, Richard Stout (1934-); collection of the artist, Houston, Texas. Mr. Stout, age, 75, was named Houston Artist of the Year a few years ago. This work makes one wonder where in Amalfi the artist saw this scene. And is someone coming from Salerno to this spot? What will the visitor and the person visited talk about?

9. September – Cellist,Jim Seigler (1930-); collection of the artist, Houston, Texas. Mr. Seigler, age 79, paints from sun up to sun down in a loft studio he built with an adjacent apartment where he can live when he can no longer climb stairs. His mother lived to almost 100 and he says he has so many sketches to paint that he will need to live at least that long to use up what he sees on his many travels around the world. What musical interlude is the cellist about to play? What was the audience reaction?

10. October – Ducks in Autumn Pond, Garth Vaughan (1928-); private collection, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. http://www.vaughanart.com. This 81-year-old former merchant marine, sign painter, and general surgeon has been painting scenes around his beautiful part of North America since he was 14 years old. Dr. Vaughan had the same facility with a paint brush he had with his scalpel: He saved lives then gave his patients, indeed all of us, something to live for – beauty and art!

11. November – Taking a Rest, Bobbi Pruneda (1937-); private collection, Hunt, Texas. Ms. Pruneda, age 72, one of the “youngsters” of this year’s group, spends a lot of time in Mexico painting scenes that depict local life in small towns like San Felipe in Guanajuato not far from the art colony of San Miguel de Allende. Here we see what she saw: two people taking refuge from the noon sun.

12. December – Sugar Tree, Lou Feldman (1923-); private collection, Houston, TX. Mr. Feldman, age 86, used to work in the surgery department at Baylor College of Medicine helping the late famed heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey make various implements for artificial hearts. He now touches our hearts with his works of art.

These artists, like others around the world, give us hope that we can continue doing things very well in late life that we did as younger people. Our “days in the sun” don’t stop after having reached a certain age. It’s what we keep or start doing that counts. Next year, we may do a mix of artists past and present. So if you know of any who are still painting or who painted until near the end of their long lives, let us know. Thanks, Bob Roush, Consulting Curator, Arts in Aging Calendar.

N.B. At the recent annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in Washington, D.C., I had the honor of being appointed Chair of the Humanities and Arts Committee. The H&A Committee is responsible for the opening and closing of the annual meetings, featuring older performing artists. The committee also hosts a symposium on the arts in aging where films about and by older persons are shown and works of older artists are exhibited. In 2009, the GSA meeting will be in Atlanta. As chair next year, I plan to arrange for some of the artists featured in our calendars to attend and exhibit their works.

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