According to a recent study from the University of Rome, published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, newer art elicits a more emotional response than older, or ancient works of art. I found that to be the case while visiting the Museum of Modern Art in New York this past weekend. While I have visited and enjoyed some of the "big" museums in the past (The Louvre, The Uffizzi to name two), I had a physical reaction to a piece at MOMA which surprised me.
"Blessed Art Thou Among Women" by Gertrude Käsebier is a gelatin silver print of Agnes Lee, (wife of Francis Watts Lee, an amateur Boston photographer and printer) and their daughter Peggy, in their Boston home. It is smaller, comparatively, than the impressive works of Monet, Matisse, Picasso, van Gogh and others that I saw that day. But it's impact was no less great.
I have no idea why I got choked up when I first saw the image. It reminded me of my mother, my grandmother, my daughter, the bond between women in general -- nothing individually that would elicit an emotional response -- but this image kind of pulled it all together? I don't know, but I'm trying to understand.
It would be interesting to know if any works of art have hit you in a similar way.
i find myself moved by images such as that also, photography in particular. Edward Steichen's collection The Family of Man does it to me!
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