Abstract
To the Editor. —In the recent article by Drs Cummings and Zarit, 1 the reproductions that are supposed to illustrate the progressive intellectual decay of the artist show in fact a progression toward better pictorial quality, if not toward genius. Figure 1 in the article, painted near the time of onset of Alzheimer's disease, is a vulgar, unskilled amateur painting with gross errors in perspective and nauseating colors. Figure 2, painted seven years after the onset of disease, is the work of a genius, recalling the best of Van Gogh. Figure 4, completed at the nadir of his Alzheimer's dementia, could compete with the best attainments of modern art. This leads to one question: Are our contemporary artists collectively suffering from advanced Alzheimer's or from another kind of dementia?
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