Artistic creativity, artistic production, and aging

This chapter reviews the changes produced by age on various aspects of artistic painting, particularly creativity and actual production. Aging in trained painters is often accompanied by a decline in creativity, which in turn is due to the cognitive decline related to aging. It has been argued, however, that aging does not cause a decline, but only changes in style and content. The two views are not mutually exclusive, and we present examples illustrating both aspects. We also show that, in addition to cognitive changes, impairment of sensory organs, especially vision, and of the bones and joints, may also produce marked changes in an artist's production and style. We conclude by showing that finding ways to induce creativity in persons who do not consider themselves artists can be a way of stimulating creativity and contribute to successful aging.