The Role of
Emotion in Art Appreciation
The viewer is invited to become aware of many things when
presented with a work of art. The viewer may become aware of the artist who
created the work, the intentions of the artist, the life of the artist, or, if
this knowledge is unavailable, the viewer may simply have the valuable
awareness that the work of art was created by someone for some reason. Equally
valuable is an awareness of the context and content of the work. The work was
created in a specific time and place, surrounded by a particular social and
political context. An awareness of the time, place and context in which it is
presently viewed is also important. The work itself contains many possible
variables of which the viewer should be aware. The subject,
and the extent of the viewer's knowledge of that subject may be a key aspect in
understanding the work. In other works, one might pay attention to the
aesthetic qualities of the work, the handling of the medium, the skill in the
making. Then, the viewer may gain an awareness of the
many possible ways in which the work may be read, and of the effect of this
knowledge on the viewer's initial gut reaction to the work. This reaction may
be influenced by what happened to the viewer just before seeing the work, the
state of wakefulness and general health of the viewer, the viewer's choice of
breakfast foods, or the viewer's varying emotions.
At any one moment in the experience of viewing art, any
combination of these aspects of awareness come together, and should come
together, to create a holistic experience. The greatest works of art are those
which appear to address, or at least to show the artist's consideration of as
many of these variables as possible. The greatest judges of artwork are those
who are constantly expanding their awareness, considering as many variables as
they can, so that a final judgement may, in fact, never be reached. In any
stage of this expanding awareness, it might be necessary, for the sake of
organization, to separate out each variable, in order to become aware of them
one at a time. For this reason, some viewers may wish to separate their
emotions from their readings of the work. It may be helpful to do this for the
appreciation of some works, but there is a danger in this thinking,
that a hierarchy may develop among the many variables of viewing, and
that false sense of separation may occur between them.
A common response in viewing artwork is the sense that the
space in a work has meaning, both because it meant something to the artist, and
because it means something to the viewer, who takes the time to look at it and
respond to it. The response of finding meaning is never without emotion. Just
because emotions are susceptible to change, resulting from the influence of
stimuli to the mind, body and spirit, does not dismiss the fact that they are
always present. They are even the cause of meaning in many works of art.
Meaning is a complex interplay between the heart and the soul, and the mind and
body, so that it is impossible to tell which part of you the art speaks to, or
which part moves another.
Art is a holistic experience. The more we know about a work, and ourselves in relation to the work, the more it
means. Objective appreciation somehow eludes us in art, just as we could never
claim to appreciate another human being objectively. Our response to art cannot
be compartmentalized into categories of awareness, and emotion cannot be
separated from the experience, because it cannot be separate from who we are. Our critical awareness of emotions is an
important factor in looking at every work of art, but to believe that any
experience can be devoid of emotion is ridiculous. And it is not a failing on
the part of the viewer, or the even the artist, to feel emotion about a work.
In many works, a separation of emotion from the experience is devastating to
the meaning of the work. An awareness and understanding of the response evoked
by Vincent van Gogh's color and rhythm in The Starry
Night is necessary to the experience of the work, but the moment we become
overly self-conscious about this awareness, we lose the validity of its
emotional meaning.