Artist is one of the four generational archetypes. The artist archetype is born during the crisis era, enters young adulthood in a high era, enters midlife in an awakening era, and enters elderhood in an unraveling era (125). According to Strauss and Howe’s generational theory, the Silent Generation (1925-1942) belongs to the artist archetype (135).

Awakening refers to the second turning of a saeculum. It is a passionate era of spiritual upheaval, when the civic order comes under attack from a new values regime (124). The awakening of the current saeculum was the Consciousness Revolution, lasting from 1964 to 1984.

Crisis refers to the fourth turning of a saeculum. It is a decisive era of secular upheaval, when the values regime propels the replacement of the old civic order with a new one (124). Strauss and Howe predicted that the crisis era of the current saeculum would begin in the middle of the 2000s and end roughly 20 years later.