ABSTRACT
The goal of this chapter is to describe behavioral, physiological, and neuroscientific research that has examined what distinguishes experiencing art in a museum from other settings and what is it about the museum space and the manner in which artworks are presented there that leads to intense, meaningful, and often pleasurable interactions with the artworks and to summarize the conclusions of this research. The way we experience art in museums, we show, owes much to museums’ visitor-centered focus; museums’ institutional and curatorial design; visitors’ art knowledge, motivation, and goals; and the authenticity and historical-artistic value of the artworks. The interaction between these museum, visitor, and artwork features has a significant and positive impact on the experience of art: experiencing art in museums produces more meaningful, intense, and personally relevant outcomes.
