ANALYSIS OF FEMALE PORTRAITS FROM DIFFERENT PAINTING STYLES BY PABLO PICASSO IN LIGHT OF COGNITIVE THEORY OF AESTHETIC DECISION-MAKING

The issue of this study was to examine whether aesthetic evaluations of female portraits from various painting periods in Pablo Picasso's oeuvre differ in terms of dimensions: harmony (H), ornamentation (R), and distance (D). Additionally, this study investigates the trends of aesthetic evaluations over time and whether they correspond to the assumptions of the cognitive theory of aesthetic decision-making. The study involved 55 emerging adults (M = 23.9, SD = 2.46). The stimulus material consisted of 16 female portraits belonging to Picasso's blue period, rose period, analytic cubism, and synthetic cubism. We used scales to measure H, R and D dimensions of aesthetic decision-making (Pejić 2006, 2007; Pejić & Milićević 2007). One-way ANOVA results indicated statistically significant differences in the expression of H dimension (F (3,876) = 79.28, p = .000, ŋ2 = .230), R dimension (F (3,876) = 22.49, p = .000, ŋ2 = .079), and D dimension (F (3,876) = 6.38, p = .000, ŋ2 = .026) depending on Picasso's artistic period. Likewise, trends in aesthetic evaluations of female portraits from different periods of Picasso's oeuvre over time were examined. The results showed a statistically significant trend that resembled the trend expected, depending on the aesthetic dimension in question.Keywords: H dimension, R dimension, D dimension, female portraits, Pablo Picasso