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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
7
pubmed:dateCreated
2010-9-16
pubmed:abstractText
Strong claims have been made about the importance of orientation in visual art. Although there have been a few studies whether left or right oriented pictures are more aesthetically pleasing, there have been no empirical studies whether the meaning and expressiveness of pictures depend on orientation. Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) made explicit decisions about whether the main protagonist in his pictures should face left or right and did so to express particular meaning. In three experiments we examined whether orientation changes the expressiveness of an image. In experiment 1 participants viewed eight of Bewick's animal wood engravings facing either in their original orientation or reversed, in a between-subjects design. They rated each print on ten characteristics, for example: docile-wild, clumsy-agile, and weak-strong. The original received more extreme ratings, across characteristics, than the reversal. Experiment 2 confirmed this result with participants from Italy. In experiment 3, using a within-subjects design, participants viewed ten wood engravings of dogs and rated them on characteristics specifically identified by Bewick. Again, the ratings of the original orientation were more extreme. Thus, in agreement with Bewick, we conclude that orientation affects expressiveness.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0301-0066
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
39
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
970-81
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2010
pubmed:articleTitle
Does left-right orientation matter in the perceived expressiveness of pictures? A study of Bewick's animals (1753-1828).
pubmed:affiliation
School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK. kmb@liv.ac.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article