It is quite often touted, and particularly implied in the mainstream vernacular, that the creative genius has a certain personality. To be creative is, therefore, to show tendencies towards a behaviour type. But is this really true? Is creativity an inseparable and identikit part of the self? Is being a creative (minus the genius) just shadowing and mimicry of some kind of creative pure bred?

Biographies are extremely valuable in helping us answer these types of questions. If we are to examine them for a combination of widely accepted great artists we are not only reminded of just how different and complex everybody’s life is but also the difference in their social and historical circumstances. This is before we even consider the kaleidoscope of individual personality traits on offer!

The strongest argument I have to offer that there is no such thing as a single model for creative genius is that geniuses have thrived across so many cultures and have endured such diverse trials and circumstances. The world changes constantly, particularly at a micro level, and affects how an artist can endure. If the artist’s job is to illuminate truth then the artist and his environment have to be conducive to one another; if the latter changes then so too has the former.

A good example to offer would be of the composer Edvard Grieg. After reading the insightful biography by David Monrad Johansen, it is difficult to imagine Grieg rising to prominence in today’s Norway. Interest in classical music is waning. Norway now has over a century of Nationalist culture. The pace and demand directed on artists is far greater now. This last point is the most telling. Grieg battled immensely with self-doubt. One of the greatest composers of his era and he only managed to complete one concerto. Mozart composed over forty.

That isn’t to say if Grieg was born today he wouldn’t thrive in modernity. My suggestion is that to do so, and to such a degree, would require him to adapt his persona in order to be a conduit of the time.

This month's favourites:
   The Adverts, Crossing the Red Sea with The Adverts
   Niall Campbell, Moontide
   A Hijacking (2012)