Looking at Art is like Falling in Love

I recently came across a study that proved what us art lovers have long known: looking at (and making) beautiful art is like falling in love. In the field as neuroesthetics,

The same part of the brain that is excited when you fall for someone romantically is stimulated when you stare at great works of beauty, researchers have discovered.

Viewing art triggers a surge of the feel-good chemical, dopamine, into the orbito-frontal cortex of the brain, resulting in feelings of intense pleasure.

Dopamine and the orbito-frontal cortex are both known to be involved in desire and affection and in invoking pleasurable feelings in the brain.

One summer afternoon walking out of a bookstore, I ran into an author I knew. When she asked me what I was working on in the studio, I remember she was one of the first people I talked to about a series of rabbit portraits I was working on at the time. She listened attentively like all good writers do, and then she had the perfect response: “you are in love!”

That little exchange was years ago now, but I still feel so touched by how she quickly assessed the situation. Yes, when things are flowing in the studio, I am in love.