Age and productivity: An empirical study of early American artists

Robert Ekelund, John D. Jackson and Robert Tollison

Southern Economic Journal, 2015, vol. 81, issue 4, 1096-1116

Abstract: Economist David Galenson, using both statistical and anecdotal methods, divides artists into two types, innovative or conceptual (who “peak” at younger ages) and experimental (peaking at older ages), to investigate how age is related to creativity. This well‐known distinction has met with criticism and alternative theories of artistic productivity. We here extend Galenson's formal statistical methods to a new sample of American artists born prior to 1900, a period when according to Galenson, “most” American artists can be identified as experimental. Specifically, we explore the use of quantitative and qualitative analysis to shed light on the relationship between age and artistic productivity. We investigate whether this classification has substantial explanatory power for the age at which the most important artistic work is achieved over the life cycle. Our results do not support the bifurcation but indicate that a number of factors must be used in any life cycle investigation linking age to artistic creativity.

Date: 2015
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