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Are Your Most Creative Years Ahead of You?
Recent research suggests that there are two different types of creativity, one peaking in middle age and beyond.
Take, for instance, the exemplars of creativity, artists. They aren't all the same: there seem to be two types of artistic innovator, whose accomplishments peak at two different times in life. Conceptual innovators whose art is radically different from the status quo produce their key work relatively young. Experimental innovators, who over many years seek to improve their technique, are most productive later in their careers.
David Galenson of the University of Chicago writes in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper:
... the division between experimental late bloomers and conceptual young geniuses exists in many other intellectual activities. We are not yet sure how far this extends, but every artistic discipline I have studied to date includes important innovators of both types.
Some examples of experimental artists whose created their best work later in life:
- Robert Frost: "the five years in which he executed the work that has been most frequently anthologized occurred at the ages of 42, 49, 54, 62, and 68"
- "Paul Cézanne, the greatest painter of the late nineteenth century, created his most important art at the end of his life, at 67."
- "Mark Twain published Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which Hemingway described as the source of all modern American literature, at 50."
... and Alfred Hitchcock, Rodin, Le Corbusier, Alfred Stieglitz, and Irving Berlin.
Galenson says that a romanticization of the short, productive creative life (think Shelley and Keats) may in part explain why society misses the significant contributions of older artists. A failure to recognize that there is more than one type of creativity is another key factor.
There have not been similar studies in the sciences, Galenson says, but if the same taxonomy holds, it is a mistake to believe that innovation in those fields in only the province of the young.
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Creativity
Totally agree. I deal with the creative industry on a daily basis and more and more 40+ people every day! After a certain age people tend to relax into life and that frees up a lot of creative juices....
thank you thank you !
Thank you so much for this article. I am now even more inspired to continue with my artistic career that I had put aside for a year. I do find myself getting more innovative as the years progress, and also more introspective. I am sure there is a book with my own illustrations that will happen some day. Mae
Are Your Most Creative Years Ahead of You?
Creativity requires practice and what's more important than creativity is creating. They're not the same. Creating has to do with our relationship to life and inventing something new, bringing something new into existence particularly by the way we speak. It's not past-based; it's future based.
There's a particular kind of speaking that creates reality, referred to as "speech acts." One form of speech act is a "declaration," which sounds something like this, "Who I am is vitality, youthfulness and creativity and I live my life out of this stance." This statement is valid because of the authority of person speaking, who is the author of their life.
For different perspectives on aging, you may want to visit- happiness-after-midlife.com/midlife-crisis-coping-blog.html
yes I think
I'm in the midst of my own "transformation" and I think part of my disappointment is because of setting my art aside for twenty years to take care of husband, kids, job, being a mom. Those are the things I was supposed to be doing in that part of my life, and that part is coming to an end. This is bringing up a lot of emotions in me, and my release has been my art. I'm even working in a medium that I never really cared for before, but it's giving me the creative release that I need (and I'm "fingerpainting". My depression is really reduced after I've painted for a couple of hours. It might never go anywhere, but it's making me feel better and get a grip on who I am.
I read an article on this site a while back called "10 Tips For Finding Yourself In Middle Age" (Home » Living Life to the Fullest) that looks at midlife from a creative viewpoint, that was very comforting to me.
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