The Role of the Orbitofrontal and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortices in Aesthetic Preference for Art

More Information, Greater Appreciation: The Correlation between Background Information and Aesthetic Judgment of Tourist Crafts

More information is often correlated with greater appreciation. Drawing on the model of aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic judgment in art psychology, this study aims to investigate changes in tourists' aesthetic judgments of tourist crafts when provided with different background information. Blue calico, an art form created through white pulp dyeing and printing, is an intangible cultural heritage of China. The photographs used in this study illustrate typical examples of blue calicos that are commonly sold in tourist gift shops in Wuzhen, China. Data from a sample of 133 participants (49 women and 84 men) was analyzed using Two-Way Repeated Measures ANOVA. We examined to what extent respondents varied their assessments of the calicos based on author manipulation of background factors, such as commentaries by the artist or details about the production process. We found that tourists' impressions of the aesthetics of blue calicos were predicted by background factors, especially those of tourists who were less interested in high arts. Specifically, blue calicos reported to tourists with names that conveyed an auspicious meaning predicted tourists' assessments of the calicos as more aesthetically pleasing. Explanations of the production process also predicted an increased appreciation of calico aesthetics. Conversely, artists' commentaries were not significantly correlated with an increased aesthetic merit of calicos. Understanding what may affect tourists' assessment of art could help those in the tourism industry market souvenirs to drive sales and enhance tourists' understanding and appreciation of intangible cultural heritage.

Braque and Kokoschka: Brain Tissue Injury and Preservation of Artistic Skill

The neural underpinning of art creation can be gleaned following brain injury in professional artists. Any alteration to their artistic productivity, creativity, skills, talent, and genre can help understand the neural underpinning of art expression. Here, two world-renown and influential artists who sustained brain injury in World War I are the focus, namely the French artist Georges Braque and the Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka. Braque is particularly associated with Cubism, and Kokoschka with Expressionism. Before enlisting, they were already well-known and highly regarded. Both were wounded in the battlefield where they lost consciousness and treated in European hospitals. Braque's injury was in the left hemisphere while Kokoschka's was in the right hemisphere. After the injury, Braque did not paint again for nearly a whole year while Kokoschka commenced his artistic works when still undergoing hospital treatment. Their post-injury art retained the same genre as their pre-injury period, and their artistic skills, talent, creativity, and productivity remained unchanged. The quality of their post-injury artworks remained highly regarded and influential. These neurological cases suggest widely distributed and diffuse neural control by the brain in the creation of art.