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Two types of innovators among painter

Experimental innovators (seekers) Cézanne  (tale of his late successes) Degas (snapshot) Miró Monet Pissarro De Kooning Motherwell Newman O’Keeffe Pollock Rothko Conceptual innovators (finders) Picasso  (tale of his early breakthrough) Duchamp Gauguin Manet Matisse Seurat Van Gogh Johns Lichtenstein Rauschenberg Warhol

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David Galenson’s discovery of the two types of artistic innovators came from his analyses of the careers of French and American painters of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The

Paul Cézanne – the career of an old master Auction prices for Cézanne paintings show that buyers value most highly the works he did in his 40s and late in life. (Horizontal axis is age. Vertical axis is a weighted measure of auction prices. Source: Painting Outside the Lines)

two types of artistic innovators work in different ways, think in different ways, and achieve artistic breakthroughs at different times in life. Those artistic achievements tend to correspond with the artist’s works that sell for the highest prices in art auctions and appear most frequently in textbooks and in retrospective exhibitions, which were the clues that led Galenson to his discovery.

Galenson called the two types of artists “experimental innovators” and “conceptual innovators.” Informally, he nicknamed the experimental innovators “seekers,” because they typically innovate by continually seeking to improve without knowing exactly what they are looking for. He called the conceptual innovators “finders,” because they typically know what they want and they find it.

The experimental innovator – the seeker – is exemplified by the old master who flourishes late in life. Paul Cézanne is a prime example, doing his greatest work in his 60s. Like Cézanne, most seekers work painstakingly, building on their experience as they gradually gain mastery of their subject, continually seeking to improve and often frustrated at what they are able to achieve.

The

Pablo Picasso – the career  of a young genius Auction prices for Picasso show that the painter did his highest-valued work early in his career. (Horizontal axis is age. Vertical axis is a weighted measure of auction prices. Source: Painting Outside the Lines)

conceptual innovator – the finder – is exemplified by the young genius whose talent peaks early. The prime example is Pablo Picasso, creating the world-changing Les Demoiselles d'Avignon at age 26. Typically, like Picasso, conceptual innovators are quick to think up and implement new ways of doing things. Conceptual innovators usually do their best work early in their careers.

See also chart: Comparing experimental and conceptual painters