viewing art in pregnancy might make baby more intelligent.

[Nikita]

This is the belief in Russia, where they have art tours in museums full of pregnant women.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/01/04/Art_makes_babies_more_intelligent_413846.html

[DadDude]

Why on Earth would viewing art in pregnancy make babies more intelligent?  Well, of course, by making their mothers more intelligent, and then their mothers can speak more intelligently about art to their babies.

Sounds to me like desperate art museum directors have hit upon a new way to pack people into museums.   

[nhockaday]

It makes sense that if the mother is looking at beautiful art, she will be happy and calm, and the baby will benefit from that state of mind. It is known that babies are calmer and happier when their mothers have had those same emotions during pregnancy. Also, I agree with the statement about the babies hearing what is being said. They might not understand it, but they like to hear different voices and conversations. I'm not saying that a baby will get smarter because of it all, but I don't think it will do harm, and I certainly think it's better than depriving yourself of positive stimulation during pregnancy.

[PY]

Dr Marina Komova conceived the idea and believes that even in the womb, babies have a strong connection with the outside world.
I things she has a point, babies can hear since they are on the belly, mothers pass feeling to the babies, I don't know if they will be smarter but some of them probably stimulated to art if a pregnant lady goes often to this art program.

[DadDude]

I know I'm just being snotty.  I don't really want to discourage anybody from looking at art, no matter how daft-seeming the reason.

Being a fellow Ph.D., I am allowed not to be impressed by mere credentials, I hope.  Whether art is calming or not depends on the art you are looking at, doesn't it?  Rococo (the sexy stuff aside--that could be the opposite of calming) or Impressionism, maybe; much of modern art, not so much.  (My son when looking at one of Jackson Pollock's drip paintings: "What is that stuff there?"  He didn't seem to be calmed by it.)  The claim that babies "have a strong connection with the outside world" is so vague as to be useless in this connection.  Even supposing the claim to be true in whatever plausible sense you like, it would not prove that viewing art will make babies smarter.  For something as bizarre as that, I'd want to see empirical proof, carefully controlled studies, etc.  And by the way, I'd like to add that having a Ph.D. does not remove the necessity of such proof; it only makes it more embarrassing when you don't have it.  It also doesn't make an argument from authority any stronger, when the claims are as bizarre (sorry!) as this.

But again...I encourage people, including pregnant ones, to look at art...but only because looking at art is nice.  Who needs to cite any expert for that?  I'll be uploading "Rococo Art" and "Types (or Genres) of Painting" sometime soon, so you pregnant mommies who can't make it to the museum can start enlightening the little ones.

[nhockaday]

I guess you didn't read the article b/c it stated: Every tour has a theme. The preference is for gentle images like landscapes.

Any work involving war, pain or death is strictly avoided.

Natalya Kuznetsova, a senior researcher at the museum, said: 'Let's take the painting called Christian Martyrs in the Coliseum.

'We see here a fallen woman with a baby next to her. She is hysterical, raising her hands and resisting.

'Looking at this emotion will overcome a woman.

'Through her eyes she gets impulses through her nervous system and the baby inside her will feel all of this too.'

[DadDude]

I stand guilty as accused.  I didn't read that part.  I thought the claim was that viewing art in pregnancy might make baby more intelligent.

Still--really?  "Through her eyes she gets impulses through her nervous system and the baby inside her will feel all of this too."  Feel "all of this"?  All of what?  The baby will feel the emotion that the mother does?  And such emotions make the baby more intelligent?  That seems implausible.  The baby will have the thoughts or deep art-inspired insights that the mother does?  Even less plausible.  Well, at the very least, the dots need to be connected.

Seems like an attempt to press science into the service of starry-eyed mysticism.  Look, I'm not trying to cause offense or anything, just state my opinion.  If you want to believe it, be my guest.

[nhockaday]

I agree, the whole claim is a little silly, but I do think there is some good that can come out of putting yourself in a peaceful state of mind while pregnant. If art puts you in that state of mind, then go look at art. It's not going to hurt.

[laughingwater]

I have to agree that the whole claim seems unfounded.  I love reading DadDude's posts!

[Skylark]

Hmmm, I lived in Russia for quite a while and have not heard of it. I am sure though it is something that some people do believe there. I need to admit that there are a lot of superstitions or beliefs there about dos and donts of pregnancy, some of which are silly at best. Some are neat, like you can not cheat ( when you selling something to her) a mother who is pregnant. So I used to do my grocery shopping at the local market with my pregnant friend ( with huge belly) and all of a sudden our shopping seemed so much more, because we were not cheated hundred grams here and hundred grams there    That worked great.

I think you can definetly influence unborn baby by your emotions, music, talking to him/her, rhytm. But not sure about art....

Worls is a funny place with so many ideas and opinions....

[khatty]

I love reading DadDude's posts!

I second that motion!  I like that he can admit to being guilty and snotty while positing his thoughtful opinions.

I was considering the last time I went to an old drafty cement floored art gallery, I didn't find it relaxing. Sure, the art was great.  However I was shivering and my back and feet hurt for days after the visit.  Is that healthy for an unborn baby?

[Nikita]

The best thing about going to an art gallery is listening to the pretentious comments some people will loudly make about the paintings. Great fun!!

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