The impact of level of expertise on the evaluation of original and altered versions of post-impressionistic paintings

Twelve post-impressionistic paintings were manipulated along two dimensions: degree of realism (figurative vs. abstract) and colour (colour vs. black-and-white). The resulting 48 pictures were rated by three groups of twenty subjects each, on a number of rating scales. The three groups differed as to their expertise in art. Analyses of variance on the mean liking scores indicated that the negative effects of changing the original pictures to abstract or black-and-white versions decreased with increasing expertise. This differential impact of the experimental manipulations confirmed hypotheses about changes in taste due to artistic training.