No Prodigy Required

Wednesday night, 60 Minutes aired an expose of 4 year old painting prodigy, Marla Olmstead's uncanny channeling of 1950's New York School painting styles. The focus of the program was whether or not young Marla actually is the painting genius her parents and gallerist claim or whether her canvases are the product of her father's hand, either in total or in collaboration.

The program enlists Ellen Winner, a psychologist who has studied gifted children and specializes in visual arts. Upon seeing a videotape of Marla at work, Winner said, "This is eye-opening to me to see her painting because she isn't doing anything that a normal kid wouldn't do. She's just kind of slowly pushing the paint around. I expected to see a child feverishly and intensively working at her canvas and filling up space.

Marla may not be a prodigy but she's still, like all children, a genius.

Whether or not she actually painted the works attributed to her, I have no idea. To me, the point of interest is that the parameters in which Marla paints are radically different from that of most four year olds:

First, she works on canvas, with apparently high quality paint that must be prepared for her. Second, she receives coaching in what one hopes is a playful exchange with Dad. Third, she is encouraged to work on the same image in multiple sessions and for protracted periods of time. One wonders what "non-prodigy" children could produce under similar circumstances.

A resolved work by a preschooler is quite the revelation. Prodigy or no, geniuses all.

Posted by mark at February 25, 2005 01:21 AM