Factors governing human preference for artwork have long been studied but there remain
many holes in our understanding. Bearing in mind contextual factors (both the conditions …

Visual contrast appears to be an important factor in the appreciation of paintings. However, it
has not been determined whether and how the effect of contrast differs between painting …

How is visual information linked to aesthetic experience, and what factors determine
whether an individual finds a particular visual experience pleasing? We have previously …

Two recent studies suggest that natural scenes and paintings show similar statistical
properties. But does the content or region of origin of an artwork affect its statistical …

We examined the finding that aesthetic evaluations are more similar across observers for
representational images than for abstract images. It has been proposed that a difference in …

What makes two images look similar? Here we test the hypothesis that perceived similarity
of artwork is related to basic image statistics to which the early visual system is attuned. In …

One hypothesis to explain the aesthetics of paintings is that it depends on the extent to
which they mimic natural image statistics. In fact, paintings and natural scenes share several …

What shapes art appreciation? Much research has focused on the importance of visual
features themselves (eg, symmetry, natural scene statistics) and of the viewer's experience …

Visual ambiguity plays a key role in the perceptual experience of art and has been much
exploited by modernist and contemporary artists for aesthetic effects. But it remains unclear …

We explored how the rated beauty of an abstract painting is influenced by the relative beauty
of a context painting. To this end, average-beauty abstract target paintings were paired with …