The majority of the global population is drawn to creating and consuming art, and human emotions play a central subject in visual artworks as well as in music and performance art. However, the mechanisms underlying the feelings that art evokes remain poorly characterised. 

A new study reveals how viewing visual art affects our emotions. The research subjects viewed different kinds of artworks and described the feelings that the art stimulated in their bodies. The researchers recorded the subjects' eye movements while they viewed the art. In addition, the subjects assessed what kind of emotions each piece of art evoked.