DECIDING ABOUT A PAINTING AS QUICK AS A FLASH.

DECIDING ABOUT A PAINTING AS QUICK AS A FLASH. In this post from earlier this year, I took note that people are reported to take on average only 11 seconds to look at the Mona Lisa. I also said: “A lot of conceptual art bears only a few moments of looking. If you watch people at an exhibit of conceptual art, they will glance at a work for a few moments, take in the concept and move on.”

This article by Robert Lee Hotz in the Wall Street Journal (December 7) about neuroscience research into art appreciation seems to provide support for this haste. Hotz says: “Shown an artwork for the first time…people usually make a snap judgment of its aesthetic appeal. Brain-wave recordings suggest that the neural calculation takes 200 to 330 milliseconds, about as long as a photo flash.”