Researchers arranged a salad (pictured above) to resemble artist Wassily Kandinsky’s “Painting number 201” and found that people rated it as tastier, and were willing to pay more for it. (Photo credits: © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris (Kandinsky painting) and A taste of Kandinsky: Assessing the influence of the artistic visual presentation of food on the dining experience. Charles Michel, Carlos Velasco, Elia Gatti and Charles Spence, Flavour 2014, 3: 7 (salad))
Food arranged to resemble an abstract painting is perceived as tastier, according to a new study. Researchers asked 60 participants to rate the same salad arranged three ways: randomly mixed, neatly arranged or designed to resemble artist Wassily Kandinsky’s “Painting number 201.”
Participants rated the artistic salad as the most tasty and were willing to pay more for it.
Original research paper published in the journal Flavour on June 19, 2014.
Names and affiliations of selected authors
