Effects of Music on the Perception of Paintings

This study tested the influence of musical style on observers' perceptions of representational and abstract paintings. Participants were thirty-six male and thirty-six female undergraduates who viewed eight paintings under one of three listening conditions: matching, non-matching, or no music. Participants rated each painting on four semantic-differential scales. Mean ratings were compared using MANOVAs. An interaction of painting style and listening condition (Wilks' lambda = .780, p < .05) showed participants' aesthetic experience of viewing the paintings was intensified when the paintings were accompanied by matching music. A main effect for music style (Wilks' lambda = .718, p < .01) showed participants thought all paintings were less active and more beautiful when accompanied by the impressionist music. There were no significant effects for gender.