Penalty of Genius

James Blanding Sloan

In 1920 an American medical doctor from Montana, Ernest Crutcher, wrote a brief essay titled “The Penalty of Genius” for the widely-read British socialist publication The New Age. The opening sentence states, “Study of the biography of the intellectual giants of all history seems to indicate that the possession of great talent is had at a fearful price.” He writes that people of genius intellectual status - including mathematicians, physicists, writers, artists, and musicians - are wholly possessed by their intellect, unable to separate themselves from its grip.

Of course, it is not unknown if James Blanding Sloan read this article, but the implication of this composition is that he recognized the struggle of those held fast by an unstoppable intellectual force. Here, the viewer sees the genius nailed to the heavens like Christ to the cross, feet dangling just above the earth, as represented by stalks of wheat. The genius exists between the lofty and the grounded, under the banner of a birthright that presents as both a gift and a curse.