We See as We Are Told? How Exhibit Labels Shape Art Perception in the Museum

The claim that labels are thought to tell visitors how to look at art might clash with the conception of visitors as active interpreters today. This paper explores the interplay of artworks, labels, and visitors, drawing on a study at the Austrian Gallery Belvedere that combined mobile eye tracking, survey, and stimulus-driven interview. In condition 1, the exhibition was investigated as conceived by the curators; in condition 2, labels were altered in length and style. The results show that visitors considerably differ in reading activity, independent of age, gender, education or art interest, while dropouts steadily increase by text length. Visitors were most engaged by references to image details and technique, while artwork comparisons and biographical context drew less attention. This highlights the need to consider the museum’s power to frame looking and visitors’ agency in ways of seeing, being exposed to visual and textual stimuli in the exhibition space.