Great art is the product of years of immersion in one's chosen field.

The concept of genius, be it in the artistic or scientific realm, continues to fascinate, thanks to its rarity and the uncertain nature of how it arises.

Popular films such as Amadeus and A Beautiful Mind popularized the idea that the unique abilities of Mozart, or the recently deceased mathematician John Nash, were innate, inexplicable gifts, delivered directly from God and effectively transcribed rather than sweated over. Earlier this year, Mr. Turner took a very different approach, portraying how a painter who grew artistically over the course of his career did his most important work toward the end of his life.

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