Art and Emotions

I can vividly remember the first time I experienced professional art. I was six years old skipping down the streets of Michigan Avenue, helping my dad pick out an anniversary present for my mom. We had just moved to our house in Clarendon Hills and he wanted to buy her a painting, to not only adorn our new house, but to represent their love and our strong family values. We walked into the Atlas Galleries, and my young, unexposed eyes became overwhelmed with wonder. My dad and I walked around for a bit until we came across this one piece by Markus Pierson. I remember a visceral sensation in the pit of my stomach. I felt love, hope, courage, dedication, and hard-work just looking at this painting. Me and my dad shared a knowing glance and he bought it without saying another word. This picture still hangs in our hallway today and I still feel warm and fuzzy every time I look at it. 

So, what caused me, a 6 year old child with no prior education or knowledge of art, to be so evoked when looking at this painting? A discussion at the International Conference on Neuroesthetics held at the Berkely Gallery of Art answered just this. According to American Art Critic Blake Gopnik, "when people are shown images they consider to be beautiful, certain bits of their brain go wild with delight." The same can be said when the brain is shown images that are ugly. In this instance, the brain evokes a different kind of emotion. Either way, we can thank our brains for the visceral sensation we feel when looking at artwork.

Source: http://imgs.inkfrog.com/

So, how do emotions link to the success of artists and the value of their work? Consider The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most famous paintings of all time. Neuroesthetics attending the International Conference of Art might argue that the mysterious expression depicted on the Mona Lisa heats up our emotional center. It is a natural human response to try and interpret why the Mona Lisa is smiling the way she is. It is this mystery and this sense of wonder evoked when looking at the painting that made it so famous. In my last blog, I discussed the value of the Mona Lisa in correlation to the fame and respect of the artist. However, studies show there are more factors playing a role in arts value, like emotion.

Future research: The difference between the value of sculptures and the value of paintings.