From: Hanna Brinkmann <hanna.brinkmannunivie.ac.at>
Date: 22.02.2019
Subject: CFP: "Letting Lines and Colors carry you away"

In Art History and Art Literature lines and colors have been considered the key aspects of painting. A great number of art historians and psychologists assumed that lines and colors have inherent, specific aesthetic effects on the beholder which are closely linked to associations. This made them a favored stimulus material in empirical and experimental research. Especially when it comes to abstract art, the importance of these basic elements has often been emphasized not only by art historians but also by artists themselves such as Kandinsky, who claimed in 1926 that the horizontal line is flat and cold, the vertical line is warm, whereas the diagonal line unites both poles. However, in many empirical studies only single color patches without relation to artworks have been studied.

This panel aims to discuss questions targeting the aesthetic effects of lines and/or colors in relation to art, such as: How are effects of lines and colors described in art historical literature? How are they experienced and perceived by beholders – on an emotional as well as on a cognitive level? Which associations do specific lines and/or colors elicit? Which reactions can they trigger in the beholders?

Theoretical considerations on this topic and empirical approaches such as measuring aesthetic responses to lines and/or colors are welcome.


The duration of each talk should be approximately 25 minutes in total and include 5-10 minutes time for discussion. Further information on the conference will be provided on https://artandscience.univie.ac.at/

Please submit your abstracts (max. 250 words) including a brief c.v. (two pages max.), and full contact information latest by March 24th to: hanna.brinkmannunivie.ac.at