Toward a Late Style

Edward Said

I read a review yes­ter­day, by Edward Roth­stein, of a book called On Late Style by Edward Said. The open­ing para­graph reads

“What artist does not yearn, some day, to pos­sess a “late style”? A late style would reflect a life of learn­ing, the wis­dom that comes from expe­ri­ence, the sad­ness that comes from wis­dom and a mas­tery of craft that has noth­ing left to prove. It might reca­pit­u­late a life’s themes, reflect on ques­tions answered and allude to oth­ers beyond understanding.”

There’s some food for thought. What style are you work­ing toward? I don’t think we are con­sciously aware of work­ing toward a late style, and yet, we move inex­tri­ca­bly toward it with each new work of art we cre­ate. Must a late style equate with being a cer­tain age? Or, when we cre­ate more and more works, do we move faster toward our late style by hav­ing tried and dis­carded ele­ments that rep­re­sent our imma­ture style?

I don’t have an answer. But I’ve just resolved to write more!