An Analysis Of Howard Gardner's Creating Minds

Of the countless artists throughout history, most pale in comparison to the great Pablo Picasso. Few have created revolutionary new styles of art, and not many have the comprehensive knowledge of their domain to freely adapt from one form to another. However, these artistic gifts did not fall freely into Picasso’s lap, rather, his life progressed through stages of grief and loss. Picasso sacrificed significant personal relationships and sanity for creativity’s sake, solidifying his own determination to accomplish his greatest goal: to create art that made people feel. In Howard Gardner’s work, Creating Minds, Gardner praises the works of Picasso, marking him as one of the creators who fulfilled developmental and system creative processes and …show more content…
In fact, according to Gardner and Miller, Picasso thrived off of his pain. Gardner makes himself explicitly clear here, noting that his “mentioning in Picasso’s negative side is . . . not to detract from the quality of his artistry” (170). Picasso undoubtedly had remarkable talent, regardless of whether he had a perfect home life. He believed that “a work of art must not be something that leaves a man unmoved . . . [it] has to make him react [and] feel strongly” (159). For art to have profound impact, the artist must have experience with deep emotions too. Critics called Picasso’s creation of cubism “grotesque, barbarian, ultra revolutionary, ridiculous, and deliberately shocking,” all words meant to paint Picasso in a very negative light (156). However, these words describe a man who, despite having all of these qualities, manipulated and shaped himself and his work into lasting and substantial art. He might have had grotesque qualities, barbarian relationships, shocking catastrophes, and ridiculous habits, but all of these facets of his life translated beautifully into his artwork. Only a true creator can master an incredible feat such as