A Tachistoscopic Study of Aesthetic Perception

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the characteristic development of the perception of a painting for both artistically trained and untrained individuals. The method consisted in a series of brief exposures (165 sigma) of each of ten paintings, representing a wide range of schools of art. Six of the ten were colored reproductions. Exposures were repeated until the observer himself was satisfied that he had perceived the picture completely. To date results have been obtained on 60 observers (16 trained adults - graduate students and members of the faculty of the Department of Graphic Art - 24 untrained adults, and 20 children)