Fekete and teammates probed the consequences of visiting museums. The researchers share that “we tested whether the multimodal experience of works of art—where the artwork is inspired by the musical piece—can enhance aesthetic experience, leading to better well-being benefits. For this, we used a mixed design to compare people who viewed Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze painting in the Secession Museum (Vienna, Austria) either on its own . . . or while listening to its musical inspiration . . . excerpts of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. For all visitors, a short museum visit [mean of 14.3 minutes] reduced anxiety, stress, and negative mood, as well as improved positive mood. Furthermore, this effect was larger for those who also heard the music and perceived it as pleasant and congruent with the artwork. Additionally, these two factors slightly enhanced aesthetic experience and made people less distracted by the other things, and resulted in longer viewing times.”
Anna Fekete, Eva Specker, Jan Mikuni, MacKenzie Trupp, and Helmut Leder. “When the Painting Meets Its Musical Inspiration: The Impact of Multimodal Art Experience on Aesthetic Enjoyment and Subjective Well-Being in the Museum.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, in press, https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000641