Abstract
Compared to novice viewers, learners with more knowledge and experience of art process
artwork cognitively differently when viewing it, and differences are also observed depending
on the type of artwork. In particular, students have difficulty in viewing abstract paintings,
and it is expected that they will have different cognitive reactions to abstract paintings than to figurative paintings. In this study, we analyzed and compared the gazes of students who received specialized art education (expert learners) and students who did not receive specialized art education (non-expert learners) when viewing abstract paintings of the New Formalism movement. The results showed that the total viewing time of the expert learners was longer than that of the non-expert learners. The non-expert learners stopped their gaze more frequently at the colorful and white rectangles, indicating that they were more interested in them than were the expert learners. However, there was no difference in the amount of time that the expert and non-expert learners spent gazing at the distinctive parts of the work. This suggests that the need to obtain information from these areas is low.
