Researchers at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute found that people’s brain activity varied more when viewing abstract art, as compared with representational art. This was especially true in the default ...

Researchers studying people's brain activity when looking at abstract art have revealed why we interpret blobs of paint on canvas so differently. When you look at an abstract painting, study it in ...

These paintings are both by the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian but display strikingly different styles. The house on the left is representational; the colorful squares on the right are more abstract.

The artist’s approach resembles pareidolia, a phenomenon where the brain perceives ... The detailed drawing includes an array of whimsical characters, abstract shapes, and possibly some animal ...