Visual Preferences

In this section, certain visual preferences have been observed through analysis of various studies as well as observations of established theories and rules used for the creation of visual art. It is difficult to determine reasons for all of the preferences, so the causation is discussed elsewhere (in the neuroscience of aesthetics and visual perception sections). The various areas of art in which visual preference was found include color, composition, balance, and shape or form. Several compositions are rooted in aesthetic preference. It has also been found that subject matter and style play important roles in one's visual preferences during the aesthetic experience of art. Studies of these different areas have been analyzed in order to provide proof that visual aesthetic preferences do exist and to show what some of those preferences are.

Artists are very aware of the high level of symbolism applied to certain colors. Socially, people have assigned specific meaning to various colors for different purposes. The following symbolic associations are simply examples of what a typical person from the United States might have. Blue for instance stands for water. It can also imply coldness, or calmness. In Renaissance painting, a bright and brilliant blue was used to signify the Virgin Mary. Green is a symbol for nature or money. It is also associated with calmess and with envy, as in the expression "green with envy". Yellow implies the sun or happiness and brightness. It has also been called the color of insanity. Orange is another sun and fire related color. It should also be noted that orange is used on road construction signs, so at some level it signifies danger. Red is associated with anger, passion, love, and blood. Purple has been used for a long time to identify royalty. It also carries a calming feel similar to blue. Another curious observation about the social role of color is that different colors have been classified as either feminine or masculine.

Colors have the various social symbols attached to them as well as individual significance. Vision is associated with memory; so thinking of a certain color can evoke strong mental images, based on peoples remembrances of experiencing the various colors. One can see the important role color plays in creating a work of art. Every time an artist puts his or her brush to the canvas the social as well as personal significance of color must be taken into account.

The Color Wheel (Sloan 1995)

Relationships between colors are intertwined in the concept of color preference. Various color schemes have existed in the art world for a very long time. Primary and analogous color schemes date back to before the Renaissance. A description of the various color schemes may prove to be helpful at this point in time. No suggestions as to the superiority of any one scheme will be made, because currently there is no such thing. In fact any of these orderly uses of colors have been considered to be harmonious. The first scheme mentioned was the primary color scheme; this is simply the use of varying values of the primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) in a painting. Similarly, the secondary color scheme includes hues such as green, orange, and purple. The analogous scheme refers to colors that are next to each other on a color wheel are used together; these schemes commonly involve 3, 5 or 7 colors. It is also accepted to use an analogous color scheme with a complimentary accent. Complimentary colors are colors that reside opposite of each other on the color wheel (green and red, for instance).

Sets of complimentary colors (Sloan 1995)

Many more color schemes exist, such as a triadic or complimentary split. However, the schemes we have discussed are the basic ones. These schemes have been used by the masters of the painting world and have been considered to be harmonious, indicating a form of color preference.

Color Preferences, Color Harmony, and the Quantitative Use of Colors
Color preferences may be based on social or personal significance, evolution, or some altogether unknown reason. Aviva and Amnon Rapoport set out to find just what people's color preferences are in their study entitled "Color Preferences, Color Harmony, and the Quantitative Use of Colors". They began by stating that "Our extensive experience with colors and their combinations, beginning in early childhood, suggests that certain colors are more pleasing to the eye than others and certain relations between colors are more attractive or desirable than others."

In order to better understand the study, one must consider studies that preceded theirs in the field of aesthetics. For instance, in 1894 Cohn found that combinations of colors tended to be more pleasing as their components approached the complementary relation. Norman and Scott studied the relation between color and human behavior. During the development of the field of color preferences, several substantive and methodological problems haven't been addressed yet. The reason for this could be the fact that the field has primarily concerned itself with one question- the existence of a general order of color preference. In the early 1940s Eysenck's survey made claims that a universal order did exist. This theory was modified by Guilford and Smith, and then totally disclaimed by Kreitler and Kreitler. This obsession with a general order of color preference caused the lack of study of other important variables.

Another problem with past studies is that they offer no explanation of the established order of preference. It has been suggested that color preferences have roots in biological factors. One hypothesis has also been that preferred colors are tension reducing. In the Rapaport study, a correlation between color harmony and color preference was suggested. Although color harmony is subjective and there is no agreement about its explanation, there are several generally accepted principles that have withstood the test of time. The principle of order states that, "color harmony results from colors selected to an orderly plan which can be recognized and affectively responded to." A corollary to this principle states that, "color harmony can only be achieved by a combination of colors whose plan of selection is unambiguously evident."

Thus, it was hypothesized that color preference is affected, if not partially determined, by color harmony. They employed Munsell's laws of color harmony to numerically derive the harmonic relations of seven colors and then studied their relationship to individual preferences. They also hypothesized that color preferences could be meaningfully measured on a ration scale. One hundred and forty-eight subjects participated in the experiment, which involved choosing favorite colors out of randomly presented pairs and coloring an abstract picture.

The results indicated that the over-all most pleasant color was blue, followed by green, red, pink, yellow, purple, and orange. A breakdown of the different sexes showed that males more commonly chose green, while females were more likely to choose purple and pink. When the subjects colored in drawings, it was found that there was a positive relationship between the intensities of color preferences and the quantitative usage of the colors. In this section of the experiment there was a similar ordering of colors, except yellow was the most popular color. Thus the Rapaports did find a positive relationship between color harmony and the intensities of color preferences. They also speculated that " the harmonic relations between colors are internalized at an early age and are constantly modified by emotional experiences connected with colors and other personal associations that contribute to the large inter-personal variability in color preferences" (Rapaport, 1984).

The composition of a painting is most crucial in the creative process. This determines the aesthetic qualities of the work. Artists will usually follow the basic elements and principles of design. These elements include color, value, texture, shape or form, and line. The principles are unity, balance, contrast, density, harmony, emphasis, depth or perspective, movement, and pattern or repetition. The elements can be thought of as the tools used to create the qualities of the principles. Artists will usually emphasize three elements and three principles in order to create an aesthetically pleasing work of art.

Relationships are also very important in the world of art. There are color relationships, relationships between objects and lines in a painting, and the figure-ground relationship, which is simply the relationship of the object or subject of focus to the background of the piece. In aesthetically pleasing artwork, these relationships are all harmonious. For instance, the color scheme is pleasing, the work has balanced shapes and lines, and an equal treatment of the figure and ground.

There are some general rules of thumb for creating correct relationships and thus an aesthetically pleasing painting. The Golden Section involves mathematically proportioning space in a work of art. This way of dividing space dates all the way back to the ancient Greeks designing the Parthenon. The Golden Section requires a particular ratio between height and width, which is about 13:8. A rectangle constructed according to the Golden Section can be divided into a square and a smaller rectangle. The smaller rectangle has the same proportion as the original rectangle. Then the smaller rectangle can be divided into a square and even smaller rectangle. This method of divisions of the page can continue to infinity. The pattern obtained by joining corresponding points on the rectangles is the same spiral found in seashells. Herein lies the reason for the Golden Section being aesthetically pleasing. It is a pattern found in nature; psychologically speaking, it makes sense that a figure of beauty in nature would be emulated in the world of art (Pearsall, 1998).

These lines indicate the partitioning of space in a work of art based on the Golden Section. (Pearsall 1998)

The picture illustrates the divisions of space, spiraling to a more intricate point of focus. (Pearsall 1998)

One other rule used for creating a composition is the Rule of Thirds. It involves creating a place of emphasis or focus in the composition. The point of emphasis is found by dividing the painting into three parts vertically and then horizontally; the intersection of the dividing lines (there are four intersenctions) are supposedly aesthetically pleasing places on which to put the focus of the painting. From an evolutionary psychological perspective again, the aesthetic aspect of this form of composition could be justified. It is not natural to have objects perfectly centered and symmetrical.

The Rule of Thirds is indicated by the lines in this drawing; note the focus in the bowl of fruit. (Sloan 1995)

There are several other basic rules or concepts to keep in mind when creating a work of art. Lines in a painting should lead into the painting, not away from it. The purpose of this is to draw the viewer's eyes into and around the painting, not off of the page. Colors of different values are typically placed next to each other in order to make each one appear more distinct. There are many more rules and theories as to how to make the composition of a work of art aesthetically pleasing, such as followint the rules of perspective, chirascuro, proportioning of human figures, selective detail, etc. Unfortunately, there is not enough room in this web site to show studies for each one. However, one example will be provided.

The Joint Effects of Chroma and Value on Spatial Balance of Color Pairs
This study has to do with how colors of varying saturation and value relate to each other. The Joint Effects of Chroma and Value on Spatial Balance of Color Pairs was performed by Robert H. Morriss and William P. Dunlap at Tulane University. Previous research had shown that for two areas of color to appear spatially balanced, small areas of high chroma (saturation) balance larger areas of low chroma. For colors of different value, subjects preferred a narrow band of either the light or the dark color, avoiding equally sized areas of different values. It has long been thought that it is possible to balance a large area of a dull color with a small area of a highly saturated color. Field first suggested this concept by stating that the relative sizes of colored areas should be adjusted so that the produce a neutral gray if spun on a rotating disc. Munsell also developed a general law stating that the stronger the color used, the smaller its area must be; and the larger the area, the grayer or weaker the chroma.

The experiment involved showing participants color pairs of varying chroma and values. A masking apparatus that allowed the subjects to expose different areas of each color in the pairs was used. When testing just chroma, Munsell's prediction was consistent with the results. It was found that subjects tended to balance large dark areas with small light areas, as Munsell's theory predicts. However, they also balanced large light areas with small dark areas, which is the opposite of Munsell's law. Morriss and Dunlap concluded that although value works by opposite rules, it is slightly more potent than chroma in its influence on balance. The use of a large dark area balanced by a small area of light has been used by many artists, including Rembrandt. In contrast, Modigliani's paintings are composed of thin dark borders on light backgrounds. Examples of Rembrandt's and Monet's work illustrate both of these phenomena (Morris, 1988).

Rembrandt's use of light to create an emphasis on subjects surrounded in darkness. (Rembrandt, Hendrickje Bathing in a River 1654 National Gallery, London)

Haystacks by Monet, using a small focal area of dark, surrounded by light colors. (Claude Monet, Meule, Effet di Neige, le Matin 1891)

Perceived and Preferred Orientations of Abstract Art
There is one other interesting aesthetic aspect that one must consider when observing art: the orientation of pictures. Is there a correct way for a piece of abstract art to be oriented? A study conducted by Martin S. Lindauer provided the answer. Perceived and Preferred Orientations of Abstract Art investigated the independence of aesthetic judgments about art from personal preferences about that art. Examples of abstract art were rated for their liking and preferred orientations. This study also touched on the link between perception and affect as it applies to the perception of orientation. "The problem of orientation, in general, is that we perceive an upright world- but the information reaching the eye about that world is inverted (initially, at least, by the lens' action on light). Any possible "up-downness" of input is lost even further as the neural message- itself neutral about orientation- is transmitted to the brain. Nevertheless, despite the apparent ambiguity of the incoming message, perceivers are capable of responding veridically to an optically disoriented signal. Even the very young subjects indicate preferences for different orientations."

Color reproductions of several abstract paintings by Davis, DeKooning, and Pollock were used for the experiment. In the first experiment all of the paintings were presented, with some right-side-up and others up-side-down. The participants were then asked to rate each of the paintings based on their liking, harmony, design (of the over-all composition), and organization (of the elements). The subjects' liking of right-side-up and up-side-down orientations didn't vary significantly. The other measurements also provided insignificant differences. It is possible that when the liking rating occurred first, there might have been a set or a "halo" effect, causing similarity across all four ratings.

The second experiment involved subjects rating the "rightness" of paintings' orientations. Again, several of the paintings were presented right-side-up and others were up-side-down. The results indicated that paintings shown in their correct positions were rated higher as correct in their orientations than paintings that were inverted. Comparing these two studies shows that abstract paintings shown in either their correct or inverted positions were not differentially liked, but the correctness of their orientations was successfully distinguished. "The present study suggests that personal tastes about art can be in dispute; the students didn't particularly like what are, according to the experts, great works of art. Nevertheless, some universal criteria of the aesthetics of art must have emerged, those that make a painting "right," and these transcended individual preferences" (Lindauer, 1987).

Balance
Balance of colors has already been discussed. However, there are still several aspects of balance yet to be explored. Colorwise, balance is created by placing small areas of high saturation next to larger areas of lower saturation. In terms of value, large areas of high value are balanced by small areas of low value, and large areas of low value are balanced by small areas of high value.

A balance must also be struck between the figures within a painting. The Rule of Thirds may be employed in order to find the location of emphasis. This is the first step to creating a balanced and harmonious composition. Figures then must be placed in ways that relate to each other. For instance, it has been thought that figures that follow the rules of perspective are more pleasing to the eye. As with color, contrasts can be created by placing figures of different sizes close to each other.

There is also the issue of symmetry versus asymmetry in works of art. The Rule of Thirds suggests that an asymmetrical piece would be more aesthetically pleasing. In the famous works of many great artists, one can see that asymmetry is typically preferred. There could be various reasons for this preference; one possibility is that the natural world is not symmetrical- our bodies aren't even symmetrical, so it is unnatural to view something with perfect symmetry.

Shape and Form
A similar stance could be taken to that of asymmetry with natural shapes. Although geometric shapes are used in a lot of art, there seems to be a slight preference for organic, or naturally occurring shapes. The natural world does not contain many perfect circles or triangles, so artists typically tend to paint naturally occurring objects, even within abstract art.

The various forms of visual preference of two dimensional art have been thoroughly explored. Preferences of color, composition, orientation, balance, shape or form, and subject matter have been discovered. There is no ultimate set of aesthetically perfect elements in art. However, different trends exist, suggesting that humans possess some general aesthetic preferences due to various reasons. A question of aesthetic opinion remains. Do people of differing art knowledge have differing sets of aesthetic preferences?

Aesthetic Opinion: An Empirical Study
A study addressing this question was performed by J. W. Getzels and M. Csikszentmihalyi at the University of Chicago. They used several groups of art experts and non experts to judge samples of anonymous drawing. In the field it has been difficult to avoid subjectivity in performing experiments, so Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi used the application of techniques for the investigation of public opinion to create their objective study.

They set out to find 1) to what extent art professionals agree or disagree when judging the value of drawings, 2) to what extent nonprofessionals agree or disagree when judging the value of drawings, 3) the relationship between the expert and nonexpert judgments, 4) the relationship between technical mastery and conceptual originality and over-all performance, 5) and the characteristics of the drawings that were conductive to agreement or disagreement for both groups.

Four groups of judges, containing five people each were selected. The first group consisted of artists with developed careers and reputations. The second group was comprised of full time art teachers at the Art Institute of the University of Chicago. The third group was doctoral students in theoretical math at the University of Chicago, and the fourth group contained students of the executive school of business at the University of Chicago.

Thirty-one still life drawings were presented to each group and the individuals were asked to judge the drawings based on craftsmanship, originality, and aesthetic value. It was found that the experts had statistically significant agreement in the judgment of the drawings. It is interesting that the non-experts actually had more agreement. The single most consistent group was that of the full time teachers, which could logically be expected. Other analyses of the data showed that a high rating in one dimension typically meant a high rating in all the other dimensions. Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi reached a similar conclusion to that of Zavalloni, Giordani, and Marchal.

One other bit of information can be derived from this study. There was one drawing that experts and non experts all agreed was of very high aesthetic value. There was also another drawing that the experts ranked highly, while the non-experts ranked to be very low. It is interesting to note that the student who drew the well liked drawing was a fairly well established artist, who was devoted to creating work for shows and selling. Thus this person was well aware of the public audience. The student who drew the other drawing was a less established artist. His drawing contained aesthetic aspects that the experts considered to be wonderful. However, the drawing lacked popular appeal, causing the lower ranking by the non-experts. Not only is there a slight difference in the judgment of experts and non-experts, but there is a difference in the appeal of artwork created by experts and non experts (Getzels, 1969).

It is interesting that the non-experts had a higher level of agreement than the experts. This is possibly due to the fact that the experts were looking for differing aesthetic elements, or were putting different weight on the various qualities of the drawings. Whereas the non-experts didn't have the technical art background, so their reactions were more instinctual, suggesting a general existence of aesthetic preferences among people.

Subject Matter and Style
All of the various aspects that go into creating artwork have been analyzed from an aesthetic and psychological perspective. Now it is possible to look at the bigger picture and analyze the roles that subject matter and style play in the aesthetic experience. A study performed by Neil Kettlewell sheds some light on peoples' preferences for certain subject matters.

An Examination of Preferences for Subject Matter in Painting
In his study, Kettlewell set out to find whether or not there are general preferences for subject matter in art independent of the influence of seeing specific examples. He stated that a relativistic position would seem to yield an unequivocal, 'no' to this question, as a relativist would be expected to argue that it is the manner, rather than the subject matter of the execution that is all important. Indeed, given the relativistic position, no answer to the question should be possible, and if an answer were demanded, all subject areas should be represented equally as a result of an expected random ranking of the subject categories presented.

His method involved choosing a sample population that was representative of the art viewing public. He also used students in an introductory psychology course. He gave both groups a questionnaire containing various verbal descriptions of subject matter categories in painting. He then requested that the subjects rank the subject matter in terms of what was most preferred to what was least preferred. The subject matter categories used were landscapes, wildlife, flowers, cityscape, seascapes/ harbor scenes, human studies, genre (old buildings, barns, railroad depots, etc.), American Western subjects, and still life.

The results were statistically significant and similarities were found across both groups of people. Even when the groups were further broken into male and female, trends still existed. Landscapes obtained the highest ranking for all of the groups. Wildlife and seascapes were next on the list of popularity. Still lifes were obtained the lowest ranking. Thus Kettlewell's statistical analysis indicates that there are preferences for verbally described but visually "not-represented" subject matter in art. The findings were inconsistent with his previously taken "relativistic" position, due to the evidence of order and predictability found in the preferences. He made a reference to a study conducted by Bernard, who found out the popularity of various subject matter categories in buyers of prints in Paris. Bernard found that landscapes were the most popular as well (Kettlewell, 1988).

This and several other studies have indicated that visual preferences for subject matter do in fact exist. The question that remains is why landscapes are more aesthetically pleasing than still lifes? From an evolutionary perspective one could declare that landscapes are more natural than the artificial set up of a still life. Landscapes contain more organic, natural shapes and colors, leading to their aesthetic beauty. Perhaps this also has to do with the world's current social situation. Many people are indoors most of their time for work or school. We live in cities, separated from nature. Psychologically, landscape paintings may be soothing to us, creating a feeling of peace and relaxation.

Abstraction vs. Realism
The manner in which a painting is created is the final aspect of aesthetics that will be observed. In the study conducted by Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi, it was stated that abstract art has a higher aesthetic value than realism. This is a conclusion that was previously reached by Zavalloni, Giordani, and Marchal. There are various reasons for abstract art being more aesthetically pleasing than realistic art. In the creation of abstract art one can manipulate the painting more, to follow the various rules and create color schemes, that would not exist in a highly realistic painting. Shapes can be modified to create a piece based on the rules of the Golden Section. The artist is free to make up shapes and color placement. Perhaps the most important difference between abstract and realistic art is the imaginative freedom that abstraction allows for. Instead of forcing the exact recreation of an object, the artist is free to invent and express. This additional inventiveness, creativity, and expression make it is easier to obtain balance and harmony when creating an abstract work of art.

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (1503 Musee du Louvre, Paris), exhibiting a high degree of realism and Nude Descending Staircase No. 2by Marcel Duchamp (1912 Philadelphia Museum of Art), an abstract example.

This concludes the visual preference section. It has been found that certain preferences do exist in groups of different types of people. These preferences indicate that there are general aesthetic qualities that affect everyone's art viewing experience. In the art world there are also many rules that have been followed for thousands of years. The fact that these rules have been so extensively used and highly regarded for this duration of time suggests that they must possess high aesthetic value. The use of color in certain schemes also suggests that the relationships of different colors greatly adds to the aesthetic value of a work of art. Subject matter and style also contribute greatly to the aesthetics of art. Studies have shown all of these trends of preference. However, these studies have not proved the reasons behind these aesthetic phenomena. Neuroscience and evolutionary psychology may shed some light on the reasons. There is still much to be studied and discovered in the field of aesthetics.

The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh (1889 The Museum of Modern Art, New York)