Universality and Superiority in Preference for Chromatic Composition of Art Paintings

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2022 Mar 12

PMID 35277597

Authors

Shigeki Nakauchi

Taisei Kondo

Yuya Kinzuka

Yuma Taniyama

Hideki Tamura

Hiroshi Higashi

Kyoko Hine

Tetsuto Minami

Joao M M Linhares

Sergio M C Nascimento

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Color composition in paintings is a critical factor affecting observers' aesthetic judgments. We examined observers' preferences for the color composition of Japanese and Occidental paintings when their color gamut was rotated. In the experiment, observers were asked to select their preferred image from original and three hue-rotated images in a four-alternative forced choice paradigm. Despite observers' being unfamiliar with the presented artwork, the original paintings (0 degrees) were preferred more frequently than the hue-rotated ones. Furthermore, the original paintings' superiority was observed when the images were divided into small square pieces and their positions randomized (Scrambled condition), and when the images were composed of square pieces collected from different art paintings and composed as patchwork images (Patchwork condition). Therefore, the original paintings' superiority regarding preference was quite robust, and the specific objects in the paintings associated with a particular color played only a limited role. Rather, the original paintings' general trend in color statistics influenced hue-angle preference. Art paintings likely share common statistical regulations in color distributions, which may be the basis for the universality and superiority of the preference for original paintings.

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