Perception of direct vs. averted gaze in portrait paintings: An fMRI and eye-tracking study

Kesner, Ladislav; Grygarová, Dominika; Fajnerová, Iveta; Lukavský, Jiřı́; Nekovarova, Tereza; Tintěra, Jaroslav; Zaytseva, Yuliya; Horáček, J

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2018.06.004

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…More recently, the experimental investigation of eye movements was introduced to art history (Rosenberg & Klein, 2015). Several studies have used eye trackers to analyze the perception of single artworks (Rosenberg, 2014;Wagner, 2013); to test general assumptions from art history (Brinkmann et al, 2014(Brinkmann et al, , 2019Kesner et al, 2018;Sancarlo et al, 2020); or to detect variety and diversity among groups of viewers (Brinkmann, 2017;Pihko et al, 2011;Rosenberg & Klein, 2015). However, to date, most eye tracking studies on art perception have been conducted in laboratories and with two-dimensional reproductions of artworks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The display makes a difference: A mobile eye tracking study on the perception of art before and after a museum’s rearrangement

Reitstätter

Brinkmann

Santini

et al. 2020

JEMR

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There is increasing awareness that the perception of art is affected by the way it is presented. In 2018, the Austrian Gallery Belvedere redisplayed its permanent collection. Our multi-disciplinary team seized this opportunity to investigate the viewing behavior of specific artworks both before and after the museum’s rearrangement. In contrast to previous mobile eye tracking (MET) studies in museums, this study benefits from the comparison of two realistic display conditions (without any research interference), an unconstrained study design (working with regular museum visitors), and a large data sample (comprising 259 participants). We employed a mixed-method approach that combined mobile eye tracking, subjective mapping (a drawing task in conjunction with an open interview), and a questionnaire in order to relate gaze patterns to processes of meaning-making. Our results show that the new display made a difference in that it 1) generally increased the viewing times of the artworks; 2) clearly extended the reading times of labels; and 3) deepened visitors’ engagement with the artworks in their exhibition reflections. In contrast, interest in specific artworks and art form preferences proved to be robust and independent of presentation modes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The display makes a difference: A mobile eye tracking study on the perception of art before and after a museum’s rearrangement

Reitstätter

Brinkmann

Santini

et al. 2020

JEMR

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“…The portraits were organized in duplets: each duplet contained two portraits by the same artist, the first portrait being classified as a “direct gaze” and the second one as an “averted gaze.” The subjects were instructed to observe the stimuli as if they were looking at paintings in gallery, no explicit evaluation task was involved. The study revealed that the portraits that established eye contact versus those with an averted gaze elicited increased activation in the lingual and inferior occipital gyri and the fusiform face area, in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and in several of the areas involved in social cognitive processes, especially the theory of mind: the angular gyrus/temporo-parietal junction and the inferior frontal gyrus ( Kesner et al, 2018 ). The same areas are typically activated in direct gaze contact in studies using more naturalistic stimuli ( Senju and Johnson, 2009 ) and – recently – also live eye-to-eye contact ( Cavallo et al, 2015 ; Kegel et al, 2020 ; Noah et al, 2020 ; Kelley et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Direct Versus Averted Gaze In Painted Portraitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Neuroimaging Can Aid the Interpretation of Art

Kesner

Adámek

Grygarová

2021

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Cognitive neuroscience of art continues to be criticized for failing to provide interesting results about art itself. In particular, results of brain imaging experiments have not yet been utilized in interpretation of particular works of art. Here we revisit a recent study in which we explored the neuronal and behavioral response to painted portraits with a direct versus an averted gaze. We then demonstrate how fMRI results can be related to the art historical interpretation of a specific painting. The evidentiary status of neuroimaging data is not different from any other extra-pictorial facts that art historians uncover in their research and relate to their account of the significance of a work of art. They are not explanatory in a strong sense, yet they provide supportive evidence for the art writer’s inference about the intended meaning of a given work. We thus argue that brain imaging can assume an important role in the interpretation of particular art works.

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“…Permanecemos cientes de que estamos sendo observados pelo sujeito, mas conforme a mudança ocorre, também ocorre a maneira como sentimos que estamos sendo vistos. Kesner et al (2018) argumentam que, ao olhar para retratos, estamos envolvidos "em inferências implícitas dos ... estados mentais e emoções do sujeito" (p. 97). A mulher em Seda e Caveira nos observa, mas não revela nada sobre seu estado mental.…”

Section: Tempo Retrospectivounclassified

Duregraph: Uma investigação sobre duração na imagem pósfotográfica

Vliet¹,

Steagall²

2020

DATJournal

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Este artigo considera como o tempo vivido pode ser percebido em imagens fotográficas manipuladas. A investigação é desenvolvida por uma série de imagens digitais cujo conteúdo é renegociado ao longo do tempo, enquanto o assunto da fotografia permanece dentro do quadro. As durégraphs resultantes constituem um espaço instável entre uma composição fotográfica e uma imagem em movimento. Os objetivos principais do estudo são questionar as convenções de poder na visualização e expandir a maneira como podemos conceber o tempo como duração nas imagens fotográficas digitais.

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Perception of direct vs. averted gaze in portrait paintings: An fMRI and eye-tracking study

Cited by 20 publications

References 87 publications

The display makes a difference: A mobile eye tracking study on the perception of art before and after a museum’s rearrangement

The display makes a difference: A mobile eye tracking study on the perception of art before and after a museum’s rearrangement

How Neuroimaging Can Aid the Interpretation of Art

Duregraph: Uma investigação sobre duração na imagem pósfotográfica

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