Judgement of paintings belonging to different tendencies in the 20th century painting

Abstract

In this study Trifunović’ hypothesis that there are three objective lines in the development of modern art was psychologically evaluated. According to Trifunović, in the first line (Cézanne - cubism - neoplasticism - suprematism) the geometrization of form prevails, in the second (Van Gogh - expressionism - abstract expressionism) the use of color is dominant, whereas the main features of the third line (Gauguin - fauvism) are symbolic use of color and reduction of perspective. Fifteen reproductions of paintings that represent the three developmental lines were used as stimuli. The subjects were asked to judge the stimuli on nine bipolar 7-step scales. These scales constitute the three factors of instrument SDF 9: Evaluation, Arousal and Regularity (3 scales x 3 factors = 9 scales). Four clusters of paintings were obtained: Abstract-expressionistic (moderate Evaluation, high Arousal and low Regularity), Figural-expressionistic (very low Evaluation, low Arousal and high Regularity), Constructivistic (moderate Evaluation, low Arousal and high Regularity) and Realistic (high Evaluation, high Arousal and high Regularity). The results partially confirm Trifunović’ hypothesis indicating that, besides the formal features, the content (abstract vs. figural) is also significant factor of subjective clustering of paintings.

Keywords

• modern painting
• subjective judgements
• regularity
• arousal
• evaluation