The Experience of Art in Museums

Abstract

Research has shown that genuine artworks in the museum are appreciated more than reproductions in the laboratory. However, in previous studies, the effects of genuineness (authenticity or originality) and physical context varied together. Therefore, here we attempted to dissociate the impact of genuineness and physical context on the experience of art by using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. Participants ( N = 110) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: gallery/genuine, gallery/reproduction, laboratory/genuine, and laboratory/reproduction. They viewed contemporary conceptual artworks and reported their experience on Liking, Interest, Arousal, Valence, and Understanding rating scales. In contrast to our expectations, we found that neither physical context nor genuineness had an effect on participants’ evaluations of the artworks. We discuss several possible reasons for these unexpected results. These relate to the nature of the materials and the fundamental role that meaningfulness and personal relevance play in the experience of art.