Saturday, October 11, 2008

Look at two Sargents ...

... and call me in the morning: Looking at beautiful art can act as a painkiller. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

"While distractions, such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital patients, Prof de Tommaso says this is the first result to show that beauty plays a part."
Seems odd they didn't figure that beauty played a part in the palliative effect of music.

One of the problems with the study for those wishing to reduce pain is the subjective nature of beauty.
Edvard Munch's The Scream was deemed by some people as beautiful.
"These people were not art experts so some of the pictures they found ugly would be considered masterpieces by the art world," said Prof de Tommaso.


Beauty is not the same as prettiness, so it is not entirely surprising that some found The Scream beautiful. I think it's rather beautiful myself. On the other hand, I think you would have to be an art critic or scholar to find anything beautiful about Botero's work. If this be philistinism on my part, then make the most of it.

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