Introducing people to art

Abstract

Visitors to an art museum are traditionally introduced to the collections and the individual works of art through art historical knowledge although it is well known that this kind of information rarely leads to a proper art experience. An experiment with four different kinds of introductions to the same work of art is described in this article. Before they entered the gallery in which the work of art was exhibited, participants were asked to choose between recordings of a musical introduction, a poetic introduction, a child's response to the work of art in question, or a dialogue between two art historians.

Phenomenological analyses of the following interviews reveal a number of influential qualities of each of the four introductions. Personal factors such as spontaneity and expressiveness seem to facilitate personal involvement, whereas instructions and guidelines, especially when presented with authority, inspire cognitive activity and inhibit an existential perspective.

Keywords:

• museum education
• art introduction
• art experience
• attitude
• mental imagery
• art encounter