It has finally been scientifically proven: a work of art does not stand alone. A work of art is only truly appreciated when the viewer is told that it is real art. British professor Martin Kemp conducted research with brain scans at Oxford University and provided proof that the way we look at art is "completely irrational".
The study focused on 'real' and 'fake' paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn. Lying in an MRI scanner, subjects were shown paintings in which they were told one time that it was a real one and the other time that it was a fake Rembrandt. As it turned out, the painting that the subject mistook for 'real' caused all the brain areas for pleasure, respect and admiration to be switched on. When a painting was reported to be a fake, the areas for calculation, planning and strategy switched on. Even though the picture in question was indeed a real Rembrandt
May many an art expert see this as an open door, the British professor emeritus considers his findings relevant:
'We have proved what art historians, critics and the general public have long believed - that it is always better to think we are seeing the genuine article.'
Art is thus, much more than we like to think, the story we are told with it. To appreciate art is to believe in that story. This makes the Rutte government's current political framing of all art as a fraud by money-hungry subsidy addicts all the more painful, but it also shows that in circles of connoisseurs, the well-chosen description and opinion of the authoritative critic is far, far more important than people want to believe themselves.
And most importantly: writers of programme booklets, catalogues and descriptions of works of art in a museum: take advantage of it: you are at least 90% in control of what the public thinks of the work.
Here mer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16032234
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