Does history affect aesthetic preference?

Abstract

Kandinsky postulated a fundamental correspondence between colour and form. Using a slightly altered version of his historical questionnaire, a recent empirical study (Jacobsen, 2002) showed that about half of the non-artist students assigned red to the triangle, blue to the square, and yellow to the circle. Frequently, world knowledge associations were stated by referring to a traffic sign, a warning triangle, and the yellow sun. Kandinsky's assignment, however, was the one least preferred. A new study with experts in the visual arts revealed yet differing assignments. It is argued that colour-form assignments as well as the motivation to produce them depend on a multitude of factors. World knowledge, education, historical change, societal, group-specific and individual leitmotifs constitute important influences. We show how Kandinsky's particular colour-form assignments became a symbol for the Bauhaus in a historical process comprising simplification and the mere setting down of examples as critical stages.