The Emotionally Evocative Effects of Paintings Author(s): Stephen W. P. Kemp and Gerald C.

Cupchik Source: Visual Arts Research, Vol. 33, No. 1(64) (2007), pp. 72-82 Published by: University of Illinois Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20715435 . Accessed: 01/04/2014 03:22
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The Emotionally Evocative Effectsof Paintings

Stephen W. P. Kemp and Gerald C. Cupchik ofToronto University
tal concepts. At one level, "subject matter" set of conventional encompasses a limited This studyexamined how subjectmatter (posi motifs such as landscape, still-life, portrait versus negative theme)and style (reserved tive or as a But of life, action. group snapshot versusexpressive use ofoutline and composition use of color and shape) interacted to influence subject matter can depict events thatevoke to paintings. positive and negative emotions of vary cognitive and affective responses males and 24 femalesparticipated Twenty-four ing complexity. Research has shown that an experimentinvolving in 16 paintingsin which paintings of positive themes, such as so were factorially crossed subjectmatterand style cial gatherings, appear simple, warm, and with 4 replicationsineach cell. The dependent not emotionally intense,whereas paintings measures were the ratings of each artwork on representing negative themes, such as tocognitive(e.g., scales pertaining eight7-point aggression or alienation, seem complex, evoked primarily thoughts)and affective (e.g. cold, and emotionally intense (Cupchik & pleasingness and expressiveness) responses to of negative sub the artworks. The combination Gebotys, 1990). Untrained viewers tend matterand both styles had powerful effects to prefer paintings with positive subject ject on ratings. nega Expressive paintings depicting matter that evoke pleasant associations as aversive and tive themes were experienced and warm feelings, whereas experienced viewers chose not to see them again. Paradoxi viewers favor the challenge posed by the cally, the reserved treatment of negative themes style of more complex artworks (Winston more intense emotional evoked experiences & Cupchik, 1992). the paintings appear more expres and made Definitions of "style"generally describe sive. Participants who were generally disposed in art, film, literature, and to become absorbed structural and expressive aspects of art music were to the emotional quali responsive works. From a structural perspective, "We ties of paintingsembodying negative themes of style as a system of creating, may think to see them again. Those who were and wanted modifying, selecting, arranging, and inter ina negative affect state at the outset of the ex preting forms" (Sparshott, 1963, p. 98) and with also wanted to see thepaintings periment "Such terms as 'mannerism' and 'cubism' themes a second time, primarily how negative to bodies of practice united histori allude than rather evoked ever, because thoughts they These findings relate to twoclassical feelings. cally and synergetically" (Sparshott, 1982, principles inpsychologicalaesthetics involving p. 227). Similarly, "A style...is an interre artworksthat of viewers to prefer the tendency lated set of traits which is characteristic of and (2) (1) evokemoderate states of stimulation theart produced ina certain place and pe achieve an optimal balance between personal riod,by a certain group or individualartisf meaning of thesubjectmatterand appreciation (Munro, 1970, p. 237). Shapiro broadens of thestylistic properties. this treatment to include expression when a language, with an he writes "A style is like One goal of the psychology of art is to un order and internal derstand how the subject matter and style expressiveness, admit or delicacy of state a varied affective and of paintings shape cognitive intensity ting ment" in Before viewers. 1968, p. 86). Accordingly, (Shapiro, responses embarking research has been trend of "...the im it is kind of work, general upon any empirical to look forfeatures that can be formulated grasp these fundamen portant to formally Abstract 72 VISUAL ARTS RESEARCH of Illinois ? 2007 by theBoard ofTrustees of theUniversity

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inboth structural and expressive-physiog nomic terms" (Shapiro, 1968, p. 85).

analogous distinction between linear and painterly styles contrasting "perception of an object by its tangible character-?in out line and surfaces" and "perception which is by way of surrendering itself to the mere visual appearance" (p. 14). Cheney's (1934/1962) analysis of Expressionism focused on "form [which] cannot be seen so much as felt" (p. 73). Arnheim (1971) similarly argued that "expression is con tained in the pattern itself" (p. 429) such that "the impact of the forces transmitted part of by a visual pattern is an intrinsic the percept....[and] can be described as the primary content of vision" (p. 430). The critical contrast is thereforebetween geo metric-technical informationconveyed by the constrained use of line and composi tion and the dynamic use of stylistic ele ments to provide a direct and spontaneous physiognomic experience of expressive "forces" (Werner& Wapner, 1952). This study examined how positive ver sus negative subject matter and "reserved" (i.e., highly structured) versus expressive styles in paintings affected the cognitive and affective responses of viewers. Two classic theories inpsychological aesthetics provide a frameworkforunderstanding the process. Bullough's (1912) theoryof "psy chical" (i.e., aesthetic) distance addresses theextent towhich works of art, drama, and or push them literature draw theaudience in away. According to his "principleof concor dance", a work draws the person in to the extent that it ispersonally relevantbecause "it corresponds with our intellectual and emotional peculiarities and the idiosyncra cies of our experience" (p.92). His "principle of psychical distance" holds that the goal of aesthetic reception ismaximal involvement without excessive self-absorption; "utmost decrease ofDistance without itsdisappear ance (p.94). Inotherwords, there isa need to balance between subject matter that is personally meaningful and style which re minds us that,after all, this is still a work of art, drama, and so on. In this way, a per

Wolfflin (1915/1950) proposed an

son can appreciate it without becoming lost in thework and overcome by it. When the formalstyle of a work pushes an audience too faraway (over-distancing) there is little emotional involvement, but works thatcre ate under-distancing through potent sub jectmatter can equally repulse the viewer. Scheff (1979) has argued that an optimal degree of aesthetic distance has a cathar ticeffect so that pent-up emotion is safely aestheticians have Psychological focused on the result of this process, the relative experience of pleasure and arousal (i.e., activation or excitement, see Berlyne, 1971). The "principle of the aes theticmiddle", first articulated by Fechner (1876/1978; see also Arnheim, 1985) and later given empirical support by Berlyne (1971, 1974), holds that recipients prefer moderate levels of arousing stimulation. Accordingly, people prefer stimuli that are neither too simple (leading to boredom) nor too complex (leading to cognitive over load). However, this should be viewed as a sliding scale; what ismoderate forone another. Thus, untrained group isbanal for viewers preferartworks thatevoke pleasant associations, whereas experienced view ers preferpaintings thatoffer greater levels of challenge and stimulation (Winston & Cupchik, 1992). Accordingly, pleasure can derive either frompositive associations to subject matter or from interpretiveinvolve ment with challenging artworks (Cupchik & Gebotys, 1990). Together, the principles of psychical distance and of the aesthetic middle sug gest that viewers will findmost pleasing and engaging those paintings that temper personally meaningful subject matter with just the rightdegree of aesthetic formal ism. Responses to artworks that embody positive subject matter generally lie in the moderate zone of pleasure and should be less affected by variations in restrained composition or the expressive treatmentof color and space. However, paintings that represent complex negative themes are more difficult to predict.The highlyexpres sive treatmentof a negative theme should Evocative Paintings 73
expressed.

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increase a viewer's state of arousal into the upper range, therebymaking itpoten tiallymore aversive. On the other hand, the restrained treatment of a negative theme should bring overall experience into the preferred moderate range. While the viewer might feel overpowered by a nega tive theme, a formalstyle can provide the needed distance forappreciating its inter esting qualities. Research has shown thatsubjects who demonstrated a trait-like disposition to become absorbed in films,music, litera ture and painting were highly responsive to complex and personally meaningful artworks (Cupchik & Gignac, 2007). This was previously observed ingallery visitors who personalized sculptures by recall (Cupchik ing autobiographical episodes & Shereck, 1998) and readers who were absorbed in literarytexts (Braun & Cup chik, 2001) or poetry (Hilscher & Cupchik, 2005). Inaddition, subjects who were ina negative mood state at the outset of theex periment were responsive to very expres sive artworks (Cupchik & Gignac, 2007). In the present study, these same measures
examined in relation to a new array of artworks.

tional Style (Reserved, Expressive) with 4 replications ineach cell. The dependent measures were ratingsof each artwork on eight 7-point verbal ratingscales pertaining to perceived expressiveness of the paint = = ing (1 not at all, 7 extremely); affective = quality of its theme (1 extremely positive, = 7 extremely negative); whether the paint ing evoked primarily thoughts or feelings = = (1 thoughts,7 feelings); preference for = or matter subject style (1 subject mat = 7 of the painting ter, style); pleasingness = not at all, 7 = (1 extremely pleasing); rela tiveawareness of themood in the painting = = (1 not at all, 7 extremelyaware); whether the painting expressed yourmood or affect edit (1 = express mood, 7 = affectmood); and if the subject wanted tosee thepainting = = again (1 not at all, 7 verymuch). Materials Paintings. Slides of 16 artworks were se lected by a Toronto based artist and art educator (Larry Shereck) fromworks of the following painters: Mondrian, Monet, Beckmann, Van Gogh (two paintings), Tis sot, Puvis de Chavannes, Manet, David, Colville, Gorki, Dubuffet, Rouault, Ensor, Kirchener, and Seurat. Paintings were chosen within a factorial combination of Subject Matter (Positive/Negative), and Style (Expressive/Reserved) with four rep lications per cell. Two landscape or still-life works (nudes, paintings and two figurative solitary figures, social groups) were as signed to each of the four cells of the design (see Table 1). Positive subject matter was generally embodied inmore superficial content involving landscapes, still-life, nudes, or social events. Nega tive subject matter embodied existential or death and touched on the themes of life emotion of sadness. For the purposes of this study, style of a painting refers to the unique way that physical/sensory quali ties are structured. Expressive paintings in this experiment use color to make a
scene

were

Method Subjects and Design equal Forty-eight undergraduates?an number of males and females?enrolled ina psychology course at the Universityof Toronto, received course credit for par ticipating in the experiment. Seventy-eight subjects from two experiments (see Cup chik& Gignac, 2007) completed the Every day Mood Survey and State Mood Measure inorder to obtain baseline assessments of underlying factors and individual subject weights were derived indicating relative sensitivity to each of the factors. A 2 2 2 mixed factorialdesign (with 4 replications per cell) was used. The be tween-subjects variable was Gender and thewithin-subjects variables included Sub ject Matter (Positive, Negative) and Emo 74 Gerald C. Cupchik StephenW. P. Kemp /

served paintings use outline and compo sition to structure the work. This contrast

appear

more

intense,

whereas

re

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Table 1 Paintings varying inSubject Matter (Positive, Negative) and Style (Expressive, Reserved) SUBJECT MATTER Positive
Seurat, Grand Jatte, 1884-85 Mondrian, Tree Along theRiver, 1908 Monet, Grainstacks, End of Summer, 1891 Tissot, Woman Alighting From a Boat, ca. 1876 Kirchner, Berlin Street, 1913 Van Gogh, Sunflowers, 1888 Rouault, Nude Torso, 1909 Van Gogh, Mountainous Saint Remy, 1889 Landscape Near

Negative
Beckman, Night, 1918-19 Gorki, Water of theFlowery Mili, 1944 Ensor, Confronting Death, 1888 Dubuffet, Cow, The Merry Beauty, 1954 Colville, Horse and Train, 1954 David, Death ofMarat, 1793 Ma ret,Execution of Emperor Maximilian, 1867 Purvis de Chavannes, 1881 Poor Fisherman,

is comparable to theVenetian and Floren tine traditions of colore and desegno, re spectively. Everyday Mood Survey The question naire included 28 items pertaining to the role of mood ineveryday lifeand inaes thetic preferences for films, paintings, were music, and literature. Responses made on a 5-point scale: (1) hardly ever, (2) rarely, (3) sometimes, (4) often, and (5) all the time. Sample questions that loaded on Factor 1 included (see Cupchik & Gignac, 2007):
or books. When

(RAS: Russell, 1979), Mood Checklist (Nowlis, 1965), and Adjective the Multiple Mood Rating Scale (Plutchik, 1980). Subjects used 7-point scales to rate themselves on fouraffect dimensions with the termextremely defining the end points forrelaxed-tense, bored-stimulated, agree able-disagreeable, and calm-excited. They also rated themselves on five emotion scales; How sad (angry, anxious, happy) do you feel? and Do you feel guilty about = = something? (1 not at all, 7 extremely). tive Scale
Procedure

Ieasily identify withcharacters in movies

(Loading a movie = .80) or read a book that lose myself sto I see

how I feel, Ieasily expresses in the characters. (.72) I'm sensitive ries, or music. to the mood (.72) moved

inmovies,

I can be completely play, or book. (.65)

by a movie,

or picture, I'm When I lookat a painting mood it sensitiveto the conveys. (.58)
Iconsciously ies, stories, own. (.51) compare music, the mood or artworks inmov to my

Subjects were run in groups of 4 each comprising 2 males and 2 females. They completed the 28-item Everyday Mood Survey and the 9-item State Mood Mea sure before judging the paintings. Paintings were grouped intoblocks of 4, each block consisting of 1 of the 4 kinds of paintings (e.g., Positive Subject Matter/Expressive Style). They were each viewed for30 sec onds in a single randomized order. After viewing each painting, subjects rated them individually on the eight 7-point scales (expressiveness, positive/negative theme, evokes thoughtsor feelings, preference for subject matter versus style, pleasingness, awareness ofmood inpainting, expressed or affected viewer's mood, and desire to see the painting again). A concurrent ex periment was conducted with these same Evocative Paintings 75

When Ihearmusic that expresses how I feel, Ican easily losemyself in it.(.50) State Mood Measure. This measure was constructed by combining differ ent subscales of the Differential Emotion Scale (DES: Izard, 1971), Russell Adjec

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subjects on responses to eight literary passages with positive or negative themes that were engaging or detached in their styles (Cupchik & Kemp, inpress). The art and reading tasks were counterbalanced across subjects so as not to bias theirper formance on either task. Results Overview Separate analyses of variance were used todetermine theeffects of theSubject Mat terand Style variables on the eight verbal ratingscales. Measures of absorption and negative affectstate were derived by factor analysis from responses to the Everyday Mood Survey and Mood State measure by the 48 students in this experiment and 30 others in the study by Cupchik and Gig nac (2007). This larger sample served to stabilize the factorsand individual weights reflected differentialsensitivity to each of the factors. Separate regression analyses were performed to determine which of the rating scales used in the experimental phase of the study were the best predic torsof responses to the central factors de rived from the Everyday Mood Survey and theMood State questionnaire. Analyses of Variance Separate ANOVAs were conducted for each of the eight verbal ratingscales, treat Gender as a between-subjects variable ing with Subject Matter (Positive, Negative) and Style (Expressive, Reserved), and replication (4 per cell) as within-subjects
variables.

hand, the paintings with negative subject matter were judged to be more expres = 55.83, sive, Fv 46 p<.0001, evoking more = 20.03, p<.0001, and af feelings, Fv 46 = 37.57, mood, p<.0001, and fecting Fv 46 were more subjects explicitlyaware of the mood in them, Fv 46 = 25.15, p<.0001. While the negative subject matter was more powerful, viewers generally preferred to see the paintings with positive subject matter again. As in the earlier experiment by Cupchik and Gebotys (1990), paintings with positive subject matter evoked warm and pleasing feelings,whereas those with negative subject matter were perceived as more emotionally intense. Main Effects of Style. Significant main effects of Style were also found on seven of the eight scales (see Table 1). Subjects were more explicitly aware of the mood in the reserved paintings, Fv 46= 64.27, p<.0001, found them to be more emotion = ally expressive, Fv 46 4.96, p<.03, evoca tive of feelings, Fv 46= 5.83, p<.02, and moods, Fv 46= 4.68, p<.04. Even affecting though subjects attributed a more nega tive thematic quality to them,Fv 46= 4.35, jcx.04, theystillwanted to see them again, = Fv 46 15.88, p<.0001. Subjects found the expressive paintings to be less pleasing than those with a reserved style, Fv 46= 10.75, p<.002, preferring their style over the subject matter, Fv 46 = 6.09, p<.02, and thereby distancing themselves from of theworks. At first the emotional intensity glance, it seems paradoxical that paint ings ina reserved style would be judged as more expressive incomparison with ex pressive paintings. Interactions ofSubject Matter and Style. The centerpiece of this data set were four highly significant interactions of Subject Matter and Style which provide a key in sight into relations between cognition and emotion in aesthetic judgment. These significant interactions of Subject Matter (Positive, Negative) and Style (Expressive, Reserved) were found on the emotionally = expressive, Fv 46 49.82, p<.0001, evoke = 18.81, thoughts versus feelings, Fv 46 mood awareness, Fv 46= 52.06, JCK.0001,

Main Effects of Subject Matter. Signifi cant main effects of Subject Matter were found on seven of the eight scales (see Table 2). Subjects could easily discriminate between positive and negative subject matter in terms of theme, Fv 46= 408.41, = p<.0001, and relativepleasingness, FV46 76.71, p<.0001, and also preferred to see the paintings with positive subject matter = again, Fv 46 8.70, p<.01. On the other 76 Gerald C. Cupchik StephenW. P. Kemp /

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Table 2 Main Effects forPositive or Negative Subject Matter and Expressive or Reserved Style PAINTINGS RATINGSCALES SUBJECT MATTER Positive expressive Emotionally
Positive versus negative theme 4.3 3.19 3.81 4.4 4.54 awareness affect mood 4.26 3.89 4.09

STYLE Expressive
4.73 4.19 3.95 4.54 3.57 4.17 4.29 3.6

Negative
5.44**** 5.39**** 4.53**** 4.15 2.99**** 4.93**** 4 Q2**** 3.55**

versus feelings Evoke thoughts Prefersubjectmatterversus style Pleasing

Evokes Express mood versus

See painting again

p<.05 * ** p<.01 p<.001 p<.0001

and desire to view painting p<.0001, = again, Fv 46 25.10, p<.0001, scales. The results inFigure 1 show that the style vari able did not modulate ratings of paintings with positive subject matter. However, a reserved style made paintings with nega tivesubject matter appear most expressive (Figure 1a), evocative of feelings (Figure 1b), and fosteredan awareness ofmood in theworks (Figure 1c). Viewers were there foreaware of both the expressive quality of theworks and of the intensity of theirown in to them. These results response feelings clearly demonstrate the unique effects that result fromcombinations of subject mat ter and style because the framingof still shots from dramatic scenes enhanced theirexpressive quality. But an expressive style combined with negative subject mat ter reduced the desire of subjects to view the image again (Figure 1d) presumably the evocative effects added up because and pushed viewer reactions beyond mod
eration.

= painting, Fv 46 4.67, p<.04. Female sub jects generally saw the paintings as more = expressive (M 5.05) and were more aware of the mood in the artworks (M = = 4.85) compared with the males (M 4.69 and M = 4.33, respectively). Factor Analysis Everyday Mood Survey The 28 items inthe Everyday Mood Survey completed by the 48 subjects inthisexper imentand the 30 subjects from the Cup chik and Gignac (2007) experiment were submitted to a factoranalysis with varimax rotation and four factors were extracted with Eigenvalues of 1.0 or greater (see Cupchik & Gignac, 2007, Table 2). Factor 1 was the dominant one with loadings of .50 or greater on 7 of the questions. (See the Method section forspecific details of the questions and factor loadings.) Itreflected a disposition to identify with or lose oneself in the characters of filmsor books and to become lost in was also music. The factor associated with a sensitivity tomood ina broad range of cultural artifacts, including Evocative Paintings 77

Gender Differences. Significant main effects for Gender were found on two scales, emotional expressiveness, Fv 46= 4.71, p<.04, and awareness ofmood inthe

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a. Emotional

Expressivity
5.5

b. Evoke Thoughts

versus

Feelings

4.5

3.5

Negative Subject Matter

Positive

Negative Subject Matter

Positive

c. Mood

Awareness

d. View

Image Again

Negative Subject Matter

Positive

Negative Subject Matter

Positive

Style: -Expressive Reserved Figure 1. Interaction of subject matter and style of the paintings formeasures of (a) emotional ex

versus feelings,(c) mood awareness, and (d) desire to view the pressiveness, (b) evoking thoughts
image again.

movies, music, stories, and paintings, that ismatched against one's own. Thus, Fac tor 1, which was labeled absorption, rep resented a disposition to feel themood in a broad array of cultural artifacts, match it with one's own, and become lost in the works. This factor reflectsa mutual interac tionbetween cultural artifacts thatprovide emotional suggestions and recipientswho project their own emotional connections onto them. State Mood Measure The 9 items in the State Mood Measure thatwere completed by the 48 subjects in this experiment and the 30 subjects from 78 Gerald C. Cupchik StephenW. P. Kemp /

the Cupchik and Gignac (2007) experi ment were submitted to a factor analysis with varimax rotation.A single factorwas extracted with an Eigenvalue of 2.44 which

(see Cupchik and Gignac, 2007, Table 4). The factor indicated the degree of nega tive affect that the person experienced at the outset of the experiment. It reflected a combination of the affect dimension re laxed-tense (factor loading = .78) and the (.59), anger primary emotions: sadness (.60), guilt (.50), and an absence of hap piness (-.56).

accounted for 27.1% of the variance in the responses. Five scales contributed to the factorwith loadings of .50 or greater

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Regression Analyses Everyday Mood Survey A stepwise multiple regression analysis was undertaken treating Factor 1 of the Everyday Mood Survey, absorption, as a criterionvariable and the eight scales used to rate the paintings as predictor variables a (see Table 3). Subject weights reflecting for 48 the to factor the absorption sensitivity subjects were derived fromtheoverall factor analysis. The purpose of thisanalysis was to determine which qualities of experience were more salient forsubjects who were disposed to absorption indiverse media. A significant model involvingfour items was found relatingabsorption to judgments of the paintings,F4, ^ = 4.40, p<.01. View ers who were high on the absorption factor wanted a second viewing of paintingswith negative themes thatevoked feelingsand af fected their mood. Absorption-orientedsub jects clearly valued theemotional experienc were generally es evoked by paintings that as These evocative. perceived emotionally data demonstrate a functional relationship measure of a disposi between a self report culturalartifactsand be tiontoabsorption in havioral responses reflecting engagement in a specific set of paintingstimuli.

State Mood Measure A significant model comprising 3 items (see Table 3) related the subject's negative affect state to judgments of the paintings, = F3,44 4.65, p<.01, R2= .34.The purpose of this analysis was to determine which qualities of experience were more salient forsubjects who were ina negative mood state as the outset of the experiment. Par ticipants ina negative mood also wanted a second viewing of paintings depicting a negative theme. However, in this instance, these paintings were seen as stimulating While these thoughts rather than feelings. paintings resonated with the subjects' moods, they adopted a reflective stance which gave them a greater aesthetic dis tance from them. This made itpossible to encounter the paintings without being
overwhelmed.

Discussion The theoretical underpinning of this study incorporated two central ideas inpsycho logical aesthetics. First, according to the principle of the aesthetic middle, viewers generally prefer artworks that evoke a moderate level of arousal or excitement. Second, Bullough's principle of psychi

Table 3 Regression analyses relating the absorption and negative affect state factor to affective responses Measure) EverydayMood Survey (Trait
Factor 1. Absorption Like to see F4 = 43 4.40, I 2.44* 1.77** p<.01, R2 = .29

Positive/negative Express/affect

painting again theme mood 1.65

Evoke thoughts/feelings State Mood Measure

Factor 1. Negative affect state

1.54

= F3 44 4.65,

p<.01,

R2 =

.34

theme Positive/negative Evoke thoughts/feelings *p<.05, ** p<.10

Like tosee painting again

2.36*
2.23* -2.03*

EvocativePaintings

79

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cal distance holds that audiences search foran optimal balance between personal involvement inmeaningful subject matter and awareness of itsaesthetic intentions and devices. From an operational perspec was assumed that positive subject tive, it matter would stimulate both pleasure and involvement, whereas negative subject matter would increase arousal and detach ment. Reserved styles would decrease the subjective experience of arousal by increasing aesthetic distance, whereas expressive styles would increase arousal and diminish aesthetic distance by sponta neously eliciting emotion in the viewer. None of the participants in this study had any training inart historyand were un

with the paintings. They easily dis familiar criminated positive fromnegative themes, finding the positive artworks to be more pleasing and wanting to see them again. Paintings representing negative themes were experienced as more emotionally in tense and expressive, though subjects did not express a desire to see them again. These data are consistent with earlier work contrasting simple, warm paintings of pleasant themes with complex, cold, and emotionally intense depictions of negative themes (Cupchik & Gebotys, 1990). Sub jects also responded differentiallyto the expressive and reserved styles. They were particularly aware of the mood in the re served paintings which were experienced as expressive and evocative of feelings. This finding indicates that mere outline and rigorous composition does not inand of itself diminish the affective quality of an artwork.Viewers were also sensitive to the style of the expressive paintings but found them less pleasing by comparison. The crucial results showed how the combination of subject matter and style shaped reactions to the paintings. As ex pected, the paintings depicting positive themes were less affected by variations in style. However, style had a strong impact on the affective experience of paintings embodying negative themes. Two different dynamics were at work.When the subject matter was negative and the style was 80 Gerald C. Cupchik StephenW. P. Kemp /

highly expressive, viewers did not want to see the paintings again. The experience may have been too intense in that the evocative effects of negative subject mat terand expressive stylewere additive and pushed the viewers' experiences beyond the boundaries of the "aesthetic middle." On the other hand, a reserved treatment of paintings with negative themes height ened both the self-conscious experience of emotion and the attribution of expres siveness to theworks themselves. While a reserved style magnified the impact of a negative theme, viewers saw itssource as the artworks themselves, implying greater aesthetic distance. This paradox, whereby restraint actually magnified the perceived expressive quality of negative themes, encouraged us to re visit the meaning of framing the moment inpainting. When a negative theme is pre sented in a reserved style, the carefully controlled scene appears to be an out-take a film. from Accordingly,Marat sits dead in the tub still holding his writing implement (David), the horse racing along a railroad track towardan oncoming trainappears on course forcertain doom (Colville), Emper or Maximilian has just been shot, with the smoke coming from the rifle muzzles, but he has yet to fall(Manet), and the poor fish erman iscaught ina reflectivepose before In each his boat (Puvis de Chavannes). case, something significant has happened or isabout to happen. So the bounded use of outline in the reserved style echoes the painting's frame, isolating a moment in time and therebymaking itappear all the more poignant. This freeze-framingallows the viewer more time to take in the scene and have a deeper experience of the nar which yields a more profound emo rative, tional experience. A more elaborate dis cussion of the impactof framing is offered by Paquin (1992). Contrived staging, juxta positioning of subject matter, and melodra matic gestures might also give viewers the that this is a dramatization of a message moment rich in meaning. From a psychological perspective, an ticipation and tension are heightened but

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the resolution is not graphically displayed. According to Bullough's principle of psy chical distance, the effectof style is toboth freeze themoment and remindus that this is, after all, still a painting. This increase in aesthetic distance accords nicely with the Fechner/Berlyne principle of the aes still keeps the ex middle because it thetic perience of tension in themoderate range. with Kavolis' (1968) sociologi This also fits cal account of expressive style: "But, from the point of view of sociological research, style is a projection of subjective (affective rather than cognitive) perceptions of, and responses to, situations of action" (p. 6). The effectof framing is to create the equiv alent of an evocative out-take in themidst of unfolding action. By way of contrast, when the negative themes are presented ina highlyexpressive style, the experience of tension in the moment is heightened and aesthetic distance is reduced thereby making the encounter aversive. The individual difference findings, and state which take into account both trait what variables, provided some insight into motivates a person to want furtheren counters with artworks. Participants with an enduring trait-like disposition to absorp tion invaried cultural artifacts chose, fora second viewing, paintings with negative themes that evoked feelings or affected was echoed in theirmoods. This finding the concurrent study involvingliterary pas sages (Cupchik & Kemp, in press). Sub jects with high loadings on the absorption wanted to read the rest of the story factor when the excerpted passages were per ceived to be emotionally intense and ex pressive. On the other hand, subjects who arrived at the experiment ina negative af fect state also chose to see the paintings depicting negative themes a second time but, in their case, the artworks were ex perienced as primarily evoking thoughts. In the concurrent reading study, subjects in a high negative affect state preferred that evoked pleasant feelings passages and reflective thought.Consistent across the two parts of the present study,we find a contrast between absorption-oriented

viewers who generally want experiences works that involving intense art or literary reduce aesthetic distance and those ina negative affect state who are fascinated by the intense artworks and pleasing literary but need some aesthetic dis passages tance inorder to think about them. These findingscan also be related to those obtained by Cupchik and Gignac (2007) who examined the same viewer trait and state variables. Inthatstudy,absorption oriented viewers foundchallenging images withmultiple layersof imgeryto be particu larlypersonally meaningful. Participants in a negative affectstate found images depict ingnegative lifethemes ina directmanner to be personally meaningful but attributed the locus of emotion to the artworks.Taken together, these two experiments suggest thatabsorption-oriented subjects favor the en emotional experiences that result from artworks. Subjects countering challenging in a negative affect state prefer the extra project psychical distance thatcomes from ing theirnegative moods onto the artwork on (rather than feeling) the and reflecting pieces. meaning of the visual or literary This is reminiscentof "lonely"viewers who favored the "style" of paintings depicting sol over the "subjectmatter" (Cup itary figures chik & Wroblewski-Raya, 1998); aesthetic distance diminished the anxiety inducing quality of the theme. In sum, this study examined the ways that subject matter and style can predict emotional experiences of artworks, partic ularlywhen viewers' individualdifferences are taken into account. Paintings depict ing negative life themes are very potent and theirexpressive quality is actually en hanced when a restrained style frames the scene. The juxtaposition of a painful theme with the control of a reserved style estab lishes a kindof stylistic ironythat isvery ef fective. Viewers, who generally enjoy being absorbed inall manner of cultural artifacts, respond favorablyto the feelings that these negative themes elicit. Those viewers whose negative affect states resonate with these negative themes also want to see themagain but respond ina more thought Evocative Paintings 81

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fuland detached way. These findingscan be productively understood within the frameworkof traditional ideas inpsychol ogy regarding preferences for moderating arousal and establishing a proper aesthet art or literary works. icdistance from Author Note 1. Steven Kemp is now at the Depart ment of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. References Arnheim,R. (1971). Art and visual perception: A psychology of the creative eye. Berkeley: R. (1985). The otherGustav Theodor Arnheim,
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Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Gerald C. Cup chik, UniversityofToronto at Scarborough, Life Sciences Department, 1265 Military A4, Trail,Scarborough, ON, Canada M1C 1 cupchik@ utsc. utoronto.ca.

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