
“Nu drapé étendu” (1923 – 1924)

“Odalisque à la culotte rouge” (1924 – 1925)
“Odalisque à la culotte grise” (pictured below) is from 1927 (age 46),
slightly after that peak, when interest in his work had started to decline.
The most valued works of Matisse are from his 60s, after he shifted style
again – to paper cutouts. None of those is on display in l’Orangerie.
Tour of l’Orangerie
Old Masters,
Young Geniuses,
Aging Geniuses
By Colin Stewart
A selective guide to artworks on display in the Musee de l’Orangerie,
based on the museum’s online description of its holdings as of July 2007.
Descriptions of the artists as conceptual or experimental innovators are
based on the research of David Galenson. For more information, see
www.artsofinnovation.com.
Other works are from 10 years later:
Overview

“Grande Nature morte” (ages 36-37, 1917 – 1918)

“Grand Nu à la draperie” (age 39-40, 1920 – 1921)
OLD MASTERS

“Femme au chapeau blanc” (age 39-40, 1920 – 1921)
Experimental innovators typically work gradually, often taking just one
faltering step at a time. They tend to do their best work later in their
careers. In many cases, they’re inspired by life around them, lack clearly
defined goals, have difficulty deciding when a work is complete and
remain unimpressed with what they have accomplished. Examples
include old-master painter Paul Cézanne, film maker Alfred Hitchcock,
poet Robert Frost and computer software pioneer Grace Murray Hopper.
Reprints of Picasso’s
works in textbooks
experienced a
secondary peak at ages
40-44 (1921-1925),
which doesn’t show up
in the auction-price
chart at right The
museum has several
works displaying the
styles of that period:



“Grande
Baigneuse”
(age 40, 1921)
--- monumental
style
Pablo Picasso – the career
of a young genius
YOUNG GENIUSES
Auction prices for Picasso show that the
painter did his highest-valued work early
in his career.
Conceptual innovators pursue innovations based on bold new ideas.
They tend to do their best work early in their careers. In many cases,
they’re inspired by the works of the past, change styles often, have
clearly defined goals, complete works to their own satisfaction and then
are ready to move on. Examples include young-genius painter Pablo
Picasso, film maker Orson Welles, poet T.S. Eliot and computer software
pioneer Bill Gates.
SO WHAT?
If you’re inclined to mediate on your own career during your travels, think
on this:
“Femmes à la
fontaine” (age
40, 1921). Two
versions.
If you’re an experimental innovator, your work is likely to improve as you
gain experience, assuming that you don’t shift careers in mid-life. If
you’re a conceptual innovator, the quality of your work is likely to decline
with age unless you make a mid-career shift and bring a fresh approach
to the new area you’re focusing on, as if you were starting your career
anew. That’s what Henri Matisse did.
“Femme au
tambourin”
(age 44, 1925)
19
26
40
50
60
70
88
Works by Cézanne at l’Orangerie also include ones from earlier in his
life. As the accompanying chart shows, they’re from the period when he
started producing works that buyers rate highly. (The unlabeled vertical
axis on this chart represents auction prices. The horizontal axis shows
the artist’s age when the works were created.)



The still life
“Nature morte,
poire et pommes
vertes” (age 34,
1873)
The landscape
“Paysage au toit
rouge” ou “Le Pin
à l'Estaque” (age
36-37, 1875 –
1876)
“Le Déjeuner sur
l'herbe” (age 3738, 1876 – 1877)
installed in L’Orangerie in 1927, shortly after Monet’s death.
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
L’Orangerie reopened in 2006 after years of renovation. It showcases the
two huge rooms of water lilies that Monet painted for display there.
Younger Monet: Elsewhere, the museum has one oil painting Monet did
at age 35, just after his youthful peak. It’s the landscape “Argenteuil”
from 1875.
23 29 34 39 44 48 52 57 62 65 67
complex representations of shapes inspired Picasso, among many
others.
Later works by Cézanne at l’Orangerie include:
 The landscape “La Barque et les baigneurs” (age 51, 1890)
 “Portrait de Madame Cézanne” (age 51, 1890)
 The still life “Vase paillé, sucrier et pommes” (age 51-54, 1890 –
1893)
 The landscape “Le Rocher rouge” (age 56, 1895)
 The landscape “Dans le parc de Château Noir” (age 59-61, 1898
– 1900). Pictured on the previous page.
These paintings Cézanne did in his 40s:







Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906)
Cézanne was an experimental innovator, a category of artists who tend
to do their greatest work later in their careers. The most-reproduced
works of Cézanne and the ones that tend to bring the highest prices at
auction are those he created in his 40s and toward the end of his life at
age 67. Those works’ varied viewpoints and
The still life “Fleurs dans un vase bleu” (age 40, 1880)
“Madame Cézanne au jardin” (age 40-41, 1879 – 1880)
The still life “Pommes et biscuits” (age 40-41, 1879-80)
The still life “Fleurs et fruits” (age 41, 1880)
The still life “Fruits, serviette et boîte à lait” (age 41-42, 1880 –
1881)
“Portrait du fils de l'artiste”
(age 42-43, 1881-82).
Pictured at right.
The landscape “Arbres et
maisons” (age 46-47, 1885 –
1886)
Old Master Tour of l’Orangerie
Young Genius Tour of l’Orangerie
Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)
Monet was an experimental innovator, a category that tends to achieve
its greatest successes later in life. In contrast to that typical pattern, the
most often reprinted works by Monet were those he painted from ages
25 to 34 (1865-1874), an exploratory period that culminated in the first
Impressionist art exhibit in Paris in 1874. Similarly, Monet’s auction
prices peaked with his paintings from age 29. (1869).
Picasso was a conceptual innovator, a
category of artists who tend to do their greatest
work early in their careers. The mostreproduced works of Picasso and the ones that
tend to bring the highest prices at auction are
those he created at ages 25-34 (1906-1915).
See chart on the next page.
But he also achieved great successes in his later works, which is typical
of experimental innovators. Judged on the basis of auction prices and
reprints, the quality of Monet’s work also hit peaks in his early 50s (1890
– 1894) and in his early 80s (1920-1924), when he painted the water
lilies.
He created “Les Nymphéas” (the
water lilies) from ages 74 to 86
(1914 – 1926) and offered them to
the French government in 1918 by
arrangement with Prime Minister
Georges Clemenceau. They were
L’Orangerie doesn’t have much from Picasso’s
peak period. One painting is from his earlier
Blue Period:

“L'Etreinte” (age 22, 1903)
Several paintings are from just before his
breakthrough work, “Les Demoiselles
d’Avignon,” which he painted at age 26.

“Les Adolescents” (age 25, 1906).

“Composition : paysans” (age 25,
1906)

“Nu sur fond rouge” (age 25, 1906)

“Femme au peigne” (age 25, 1906), which has a style that
seems to lead up to “Les Demoiselles.” Pictured above.
Aging Genius Tour of l’Orangerie
Henri Matisse (1881 – 1973)
Matisse was a conceptual innovator with a complex career. Like other
conceptually motivated artists, he created bold breakthrough work
relatively early, leading the Fauve movement of 1904 to 1907 (ages 23 to
26).
That was a young conceptual
innovator’s movement, which he shared
with Andre Derain, whose works
peaked in value at age 24 in 1907 and
Maurice Vlaminck, whose peak was at
age 29 in 1905. L’Orangerie isn’t the
place to see these paintings.
Later, Matisse switched styles several
times, which can give a conceptual
innovator a boost. It certainly
accomplished that for Matisse.
L’ORANGERIE AND OLD MASTERS
This museum has a large collection of works by old masters, particularly
the aging Claude Monet and middle-aged Paul Cézanne.
In textbooks, his paintings from ages 35
to 44 (1916 to 1925) are most highly
regarded. L’Orangerie has a wealth of
paintings from this period, when he focused on Near Eastern-influenced
decorative interiors:

“Les Trois Sœurs” (1916 – 1917)

“Femmes au canapé” ou “Le Divan” (1921). Pictured above.

“Nu rose” ou “La Jeune Fille et le vase de fleurs” (1921)
WORKS NOT DESCRIBED

“Le Boudoir” (1921)
This abbreviated guide excludes many works that are on display,
including paintings by Gauguin, Renoir, Modigliani, Sisley, Soutine,
Utrillo and Rousseau.

“Femme à la mandoline” (1921-1922)

“Odalisque bleue” ou “L'Esclave blanche” (1921 – 1923)

“Femme au violon” (1921 – 1923)
L’ORANGERIE, YOUNG GENIUSES, AND AGING GENIUSES
The museum displays some works from young geniuses, including Pablo
Picasso, and aging genius Henri Matisse.