Universality and superiority in preference for chromatic composition of art paintings

Abstract

Color composition in paintings is a critical factor affecting observers' aesthetic judgments. We examined observers' preferences for the color composition of Japanese and Occidental paintings when their color gamut was rotated. In the experiment, observers were asked to select their preferred image from original and three hue-rotated images in a four-alternative forced choice paradigm. Despite observers' being unfamiliar with the presented artwork, the original paintings (0 degrees) were preferred more frequently than the hue-rotated ones. Furthermore, the original paintings' superiority was observed when the images were divided into small square pieces and their positions randomized (Scrambled condition), and when the images were composed of square pieces collected from different art paintings and composed as patchwork images (Patchwork condition). Therefore, the original paintings' superiority regarding preference was quite robust, and the specific objects in the paintings associated with a particular color played only a limited role. Rather, the original paintings' general trend in color statistics influenced hue-angle preference. Art paintings likely share common statistical regulations in color distributions, which may be the basis for the universality and superiority of the preference for original paintings.

Figure 1

Paintings used in the experiments. Ten Japanese and ten Occidental paintings were digitized at museums or laboratories in Japan and Portugal using a hyperspectral imaging technique. In addition to these, 20 more paintings were added from art galleries on the Internet. The total of 40 images of paintings were divided into three sets, in which Sets 1 and 2 comprised ten images each, and Set 3 comprised 20 images. These image sets were used in different experimental conditions. Specific information on the paintings is given in Table 1.

Figure 2

Typical examples of original and hue-rotated images used in the experiments. (a) Japanese painting on Japanese paper (washi) by Masayoshi Nakamura (1924–1977), late twentieth century; (b) oil painting on canvas by Jacopo Bassano (ca. 1510–1592) in 1569. (c) oil painting on canvas by Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso (1887–1918) in 1917.

Figure 3

Image scrambling condition. C0 (Original), original and hue-rotated images are preserved their original spatial form. C1 (Scrambled), each image is divided into a set of small square pieces with a side length of 73 pixels (10% of the height of the image), and the position of the piece is randomized. C2 (Patchwork), each image is divided into a set of small pieces in the same way as C1 and each stimulus is created with 100 randomly selected pieces from 20 different paintings measured at museums or from the galleries on the Internet in Sets 1, 2 and 3. C3 (Randomized), each stimulus is generated from the pieces selected from the hue-rotated images with a random degree from the original image.

Figure 4

Average selection rates for original (0 degrees) and 90, 180, and 270 degrees hue-rotated images for Japanese and Portuguese observers measured in the main experiment. Selection rates measured in (a) C0 in which images were manipulated only with hue rotation, (b) C1: Scrambled, (c) C2: Patchwork, and (d) C3: Randomized conditions. Bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Asterisks indicate a significant difference from chance level; ***p < 0.001.

Figure 5

Average selection rates measured in the replication experiment. The format is identical to Fig. 4.

Figure 6

Average selection rates for the original images (0 degree) in different conditions. (a) The average selection rates measured in the main experiment reiterated from Fig. 4. (b) The average selection rates measured in the replication experiment reiterated from Fig. 5. Bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Asterisks indicate a significant difference; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.