A new study has revealed that the lingering effects of historic racism continue to influence the way paintings of Black individuals are perceived today.
The findings indicate that negative implicit racial attitudes, which shaped the content and composition of several famous figurative paintings, still affect how artworks depicting Black people are received by modern audiences, even when the images do not suggest racial inequality.
The research, conducted by psychologists at Liverpool Hope University, investigated reactions to portraits of Black and White individuals and how these reactions were influenced by social experiences and implicit racial attitudes.
Using eye-tracking technology, the study analysed gaze patterns of consenting visitors to Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery, measuring the duration and focus of their gaze on five portraits of Black people and five of White people.
Participants were asked about their social experiences with Black and White communities. They also completed the Implicit Association Test (IAT) – which evaluates mental associations that often can guide people’s judgment and actions - to assess their implicit racial attitudes.
This approach enabled researchers to measure the link between the attention paid to paintings and the underlying racial biases and experiences of contact with different racial communities, to provide a comprehensive view of factors that influence viewer engagement.
The results highlighted:
- Participants who reported little contact with Black people and who held negative implicit racial attitudes reported experiencing little pleasure when viewing paintings showing Black individuals.
- Whilst they reported little pleasure, these participants focused their attention more on the faces of the Black individuals than others did.
Dr Tobiasz Trawinski, Lecturer in Psychology at Liverpool Hope University, said: “In recent years, there has been a debate as to whether overtly racist images should be displayed in galleries.
“This has led to an increase in decolonising exhibitions. This study aimed to provide evidence-based findings regarding the impact of the Walker Art Gallery’s efforts to enhance engagement with artworks focused on these exhibitions.
“Our results show that whether racist paintings are removed from public spaces or not, implicit racial attitudes will, for some viewers, continue to exert an influence on their perception of paintings representing Black people and culture.
“The question now is how we can support museums' decolonisation efforts to effectively facilitate social change.”