The lives of Beethoven and Van Gogh viewed from the perspective of Howard Gardner's framework of creative development in 'Creating Minds' (Ludwig van Beethoven, Germany, Vincent van Gogh, Netherlands)

This paper is a survey of the similarities and differences between two creators, Ludwig van Beethoven and Vincent van Gogh, of different generations and creative fields, to determine whether or not the themes and framework used by Howard Gardner in Creating Minds are useful in evaluating other artists. Their creative development is studied by surveying a variety of biographies and letters. The creators, while very different in many respects, have many similarities with each other and with the geniuses discussed in Gardner's book.