Covert Painting Simulations Influence Aesthetic Appreciation of Artworks

We predicted that performing movements during art perception that resemble the movements of the artist when creating the artwork would enhance aesthetic appreciation. We used painting style as a subtle manipulation of the artists’ original movements during art creation, while matching depicted content and art period across styles. Participants evaluated neoimpressionistic paintings featuring either a hatching-style or a pointillism-style while performing either tipping or hatching-like hand movements. Although participants did not see their own hand movements and were unaware of the link between painting style and hand movements, tipping participants preferred pointillism-style over hatching-style, while hatching participants preferred hatching-style over pointillism-style. Thus, painting style as a static materialization of the painter’s movements can link the original act of art creation with the moment of art perception.