Creativity and Beauty in a Framed Experiment: (No Subtitle)

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between individual preferences for aesthetic objects and the level of creativity embedded in such works of art. The same choice experiment conducted by Ponzio (2017) is carried out, but in which now, eighty-five experimental subjects’ rate two neo-expressionist paintings, according to the characteristics they observe in the levels of: beauty, creativity, the complex, novel and interesting, which according to each experimental subject appreciates in each work. Subsequently, the subjects choose among the paintings. The hypothesis that only the level of creativity is important in the preferences of individuals is tested, and rejected in favor of a utility function that corresponds to a linear combination that includes both beauty and creativity (and the interestingness of the work, in some cases). This is the first time such a result has been obtained using real paintings.