Abstract
Beginners of art appreciation generally have “reality constraints” in that they show a strong tendency to insist on identifying depicted objects and their realistic expression in artwork. We examined the effect of reading commentaries on artwork on the relaxation of reality constraints and the time taken by appreciators to respond to paintings. In the first session of the experiment, 24 pairs of participants appreciated one of two paintings:either one by van Gogh (“Terrasse du caf´e le soir”) or one by Sisley (“Landscape in summer”). In the second session, the participants appreciated two paintings, by Renoir and Matisse, with the help of any of the following three methods: reading commentaries on the objects depicted in each painting, reading commentaries on the formal aspects of the paintings, and reading no commentary. In the third session, the participants viewed a painting (either van Gogh’s or Sisley’s) that they had not viewed in the first session. In each session, the participants freely talked to one another while viewing the painting for 5 minutes. The verbal protocols and gestures, such as pointing to objects in the painting, in the first and the third sessions were analyzed. In the case of the van Gogh painting, the participants generally tended to focus on the salient objects in the painting in the early stage of appreciation and to gradually shift their attention to more peripheral objects. The participants shown the formal commentary tended to focus on formal aspects of the painting, especially on the exaggerated perspective integrating the objects. On the contrary, in the case of the Sisley painting, the participants showed a strong tendency to insist on identifying the depicted objects. The characteristics of the paintings and the effects of the commentaries are discussed.
