Individual Differences in the Evaluation of art and the Nature of art Standards

Abstract

ALTHOUGH DECISIONS concerning the relative value of art products are constantly being made by teachers, critics, and museum directors, we are aware of the disquieting fact that disagreement exists, even among the experts. Several theories have been advanced to clarify the nature of art standards, taking into account the existence of this agree ment. The theory of an would imply that a or der of merit exists among art products. Disagreements are due to false, leads and temporary misjudgments, but humanity will finally arrive at the valid estimate of each artist's work. Expert opinion will aid in more speedily pointing out the truth. The more skilled the expert, the closer will his opinion approximate the true appraisal of the work. In contrast to this view, the subjectivistic theory would hold that the evaluation of art is a purely personal matter. To the holders of this opinion degustibus non est disputandum. There is no uniformity of method of judging art, and agreement between judges, if it does occur, is purely fortuitous. In brief, there are no standards of art at all. A third theory, which is something of a compromise between the two mentioned, would maintain that standards in art are relativistic. Standards do exist, but there are a plurality of standards. No single standard is appropriate for all times, cultures and mediums. The theory would maintain that judgments of art are lawful and are correct for the particular critic involved, and for oth ers with comparable backgrounds and basic attitudes. Disc us s ions of these theories may be found in several sources (4, 8, 9,13). An operational test of the validity of these three theories is furnished by the measure of agreement between art experts. If the experts agree perfectly, the theory of absolute standards is not contradicted by the evi dence, and could claim applicability at the present time. Perfect agree ment, we would venture, could hardly arise in the absence of underlying uniformity of criteria and methods of judgment. If the correlation among judges did not differ significantly from zero even when they used the same criteria of rating, the subjectivistic view would be favored. To sustain the relativistic theory, we would expect the bases of evaluation to differ, but that persons who judged from a similar point of view would come out with the same appraisal. Thus the analysis of individual differences would furnish information clarifying the nature of art standards.