We know what we like, and it's not modern art! How gallery visitors only viewed work by Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin for less than 5 seconds



The basic fact about art is that you, the viewer, decide how much time you're going to give it. Other art forms give you no choice.



A symphony is going to take up 40 minutes of your time; a film two hours; a play perhaps three or four hours. But you can choose whether to look at a painting for ten seconds or ten minutes. That's a good measure of how interested you are by it.

We wondered whether there was a difference between the amount of time people were prepared to give a classic painting, and to modern art.



Gallery: Two viewers walk past an exhibition while Damien Hirst's piece, Damien Hirst Room, stands alone. A study found that people only bother to look at pieces by Hirst and Emin for under five seconds



We chose Tate Britain for a scientific experiment. Its collection of British art includes both the historic great masters - such as Whistler, Hogarth, Sargent - and recent famous names including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Rachel Whiteread.

The explosion of interest in art in recent years has focused on fashionable young artists, doing outrageous things - exhibiting their unmade bed or a dead shark, or persuading people to sprint from one end of the Tate to the other at two-minute intervals.

These things easily get into the newspapers, and are famous among people who aren't even interested in art. These days, Turner and Constable seem less exciting than these celebrity artists. Could the classics stand up in a simple test of people's interest?



We set up that simple test. We spent a day sitting in front of four classic paintings, and the works of four famous contemporary British artists.



We counted how many visitors stopped at each; for how long, on average, they spent looking at each work; what the longest examination was; and what sort of gallery visitor each work seemed to attract.

surprisingly, despite all the controversy, and the public promotion of new British artists, they did less well in this test than the 18th and 19th Century artists.

Tracey Emin's Monument Valley (Grand Scale) is an image of the artist, sitting in an armchair in a famous American landscape. No one looked at it for more than two minutes; if people did look at it, it was for five seconds on average. And most visitors did not look at it at all.

Though Damien Hirst's famous pickled animals do seem to interest visitors, one example - the 'spot' paintings that form such a large part of his work - might as well have been wallpaper. Our sample spent, on average, less than five seconds looking at it.



Surprise: The study found that it was the familiar and traditional paintings that people devoted most of their time and attention to



More energetic or brutal works by Hirst might do better; there were four-minute enthusiasts for a pickled sheep. And if you go to the Royal Academy's current British Sculpture exhibition, you will find people staring at his vitrine of flies swarming over a rotting barbecue for much longer than that.

Some visitors certainly showed enthusiasm for contemporary works - Rachel Whiteread's mysterious Black Bath, a cast in urethane, had one fan who spent nearly five minutes in front of it.



But for the most part, this and the other pieces by leading lights of the British art scene attracted little more than passing glances.

It's worth pointing out that our observations were carried out on a Monday, when most of the visitors to the gallery are probably well informed. We also returned on Wednesday.

The weekday crowd to galleries is, on the whole, one which has made time in their day to look at art. There was , too, a fair number of school and college parties here, visiting with the intention of looking seriously at art.

Tate Britain is a popular museum, but is not an institution like the British Museum or, nowadays, Tate Modern that every tourist visits during a trip to London, whether interested in art or not.

The people we were observing were certainly keen on the visual arts. Nevertheless, it seemed as if they were not interested in, or open to the work of, some of our best-known contemporary artists.

Perhaps surprisingly, it was the familiar and traditional paintings that people devoted most of their time and attention to.

It's clear why people spent more than two minutes on average in front of William Hogarth's The Roast Beef Of Old England. It's a complicated painting, with lots of small incidents and stories bursting out, 12 major figures and a really funny joke about a dead fish; it's also painted with wonderful bravura.



Obviously, no one is going to understand it without spending a few minutes going over its details.

The same might be true about Sir John Everett Millais's Ophelia, which was easily the most popular work when we visited.



Three visitors spent as much as half an hour looking at this marvellous painting - try spending three minutes looking at a single image to realise how long that is.

It's a very rich painting, deliberately specific in its botanical details surrounding the drowning Ophelia, as well as a beautifully direct one.

On the whole, though, wherever we watched, visitors seemed more willing to devote between two and six minutes to the classic works, whether they be Whistler's translucent Thames study Nocturne: Blue And Silver or Sargent's Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, which, a generation ago, was the most popular postcard sold by the Tate's shop. Why should this be?

It might be that contemporary artists strive to make an impact rather than provide a complex emotional experience. It is shocking to see a dead sheep in an art gallery, but it's not something to go on looking at for half an hour.

Whistler, too, in his day, was shocking - the critic Ruskin said that he was a 'coxcomb' who 'flung a pot of paint in the public's face'.



But the shock has gone, and the emotional resonance remains. Some Japanese visitors spent six minutes looking at the Nocturne.

When there seems to be no impact at all, as in the case of Tracey Emin's self-portrait, and not much emotional resonance persuading visitors to stand and look, then its future with gallerygoers looks pretty bleak.

What persuades visitors to stand in front of a work of art seems to be complexity and a kind of visual poetry.

Those qualities aren't absent from all contemporary British art. Anish Kapoor, for example, has captured the imagination of the British public both in gallery exhibitions and through his work in public spaces.

But it certainly seems there was little sense of connection between some of the art given pride of place by Tate Britain and an ordinary, well-informed artistic public.

Our observation of gallery-goers' apathy is something that professional curators might like to ponder.

Philip Hensher is The Mail on Sunday's art critic and served as a judge for last year's Turner Prize.





Untitled (Black Bath) Pigmented Urethane Sculpture: by Rachel Whiteread

Tub: Untitled (Black Bath) Pigmented Urethane Sculpture by Rachel Whiteread

TOTAL VISITORS: 285 AVERAGE DWELL TIME: 5 seconds LONGEST LOOK: 4 minutes, 40 seconds

THE GALLERY SAYS: Whiteread employs traditional casting methods and materials that are commonly used in the preparation of sculptures rather than for the finished object, such as plaster, rubber and resin. She makes sculptures of the spaces in, under and on everyday objects.

WHAT HAPPENED? The number of female visitors outnumbered men. The exhibit was popular with six school parties that passed through the room.

Primary school children were drawn to the bath and laughed and wanted to touch it. When they did an anxious attendant tried to stop them.

'What's this?' exclaimed one young girl. 'It's a bath!' said another after exploring it from every angle. 'What's inside?' was a frequently asked question. 'Do you want a bath?' enquired one American tourist of her friend.

Most viewers who bothered to stop walked around the bath, curious to see what it was, and touched the sculpture. But a middle-aged woman took a good look, read the description then tutted sharply before stalking off.



The Roast Beef Of Old England: by William Hogarth



TOTAL VIEWERS: 219 AVERAGE DWELL TIME: 2 minutes, 15 seconds LONGEST LOOK: 6 minutes, 30 seconds.



THE GALLERY SAYS: Beneath the city gate of Calais, a chef struggles to carry English beef destined for British travellers at the English Inn.

Attraction: The Roast Beef Of Old England by William Hogarth



A man sketches intently; it's the artist himself, William Hogarth. A hand and a threatening weapon creep towards him. He's about to be arrested. In 1748 Hogarth was arrested as a spy while sketching in Calais. Back in England, he painted this scathing portrait of the French. WHAT HAPPENED? There was much praise for Hogarth.

'It's the technical expertise that's so impressive,' said Betty Charlton, who is in her 70s. A middle-aged woman said: 'You can admire the artist when you look at this. It's not just slapping on the paint.'

John Hessey, a retired butcher from Chislehurst, Kent, had a professional perspective. 'You don't see loins of beef hauled around like this these days. It shows how it was in this period with no hygiene, so to speak. I really like it - it's great to see an Old Master for real instead of on the front of a chocolate box.'



Monument Valley: by Tracey Emin

TOTAL VIEWERS: 177 AVERAGE DWELL TIME: 5 seconds LONGEST LOOK: 2 minutes



THE GALLERY SAYS: Inspired by the German Expressionists, Emin's work conflates her life with her art. The photograph shows the artist in an upholstered chair in Monument Valley, Arizona, holding her book. Emin gave readings sitting in the chair, which she had inherited from her grandmother.



Picture: Monument Valley by Tracey Emin



WHAT HAPPENED? Most visitors did not even give it a glance. It prompted little conversation among those who did stop. Emin is reading a book called Exploration Of The Soul. One Briton in his 50s said the title out loud and then started laughing.

James Sutton, 70, said: 'Tate Britain has displayed modern art in a way that made it a sterile experience. It is more enjoyable when it is cluttered together.'



Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: by John Singer Sargent

TOTAL VIEWERS: 349 AVERAGE DWELL TIME: 59 seconds LONGEST LOOK: 3 minutes



Floral: Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent



THE GALLERY SAYS: Sargent was an American who came to England in 1884, settling in the Cotswolds. The garden here belonged to another American artist, while the girls, Polly and Dorothy, were the daughters of an illustrator who lived nearby.

With its ephemeral light and short-lived blossoms, this picture seems like something he might have painted on the spur of the moment, but every detail was perfectly planned. He got the idea when he saw a garden with lanterns along the banks of the Thames and he set about recreating a similar scene in the Cotswolds.

WHAT HAPPENED? Viewers spoke freely about the painting among themselves, commenting on the detail, the light and the lanterns.



Neil Abell, 56 from Florida, said: 'I was taken by the light and the texture of grass around their feet. I prefer the more traditional works. There is something about the modern pieces which are less hopeful.'

A woman in her 30s told a member of staff: 'I love the lanterns - they're so pretty.'

'That's nice,' said a schoolgirl, who had split from her party and returned to look. She and a friend stared until their teacher hurried them on.

Three schoolgirls sketched the painting, and a Spanish mother and daughter stopped for three minutes.

A school party of ten-year-olds sat down and discussed the work. 'It's like Alice in Wonderland,' said one.



Anthraquinone -1 Diazonium Chloride: by Damien Hirst

TOTAL VIEWERS: 379 AVERAGE DWELL TIME: 5 seconds LONGEST LOOK: 30 seconds



THE GALLERY SAYS: Nothing - there is no official commentary.



WHAT HAPPENED? Most visitors walked straight past this work. Those who did stop were pupils, students or couples aged around 20 to 30, plus a mix of overseas and UK tourists. Photos were taken only once viewers had checked the artist's name. Those who disliked the piece were not afraid to say so.



Colours: Anthraquinone -1 Diazonium Chloride by Damien Hirst



Professional artist Amanda Francis, 36, from London, said bluntly: 'It does nothing for me. I sometimes think the key to being a successful artist such as Damien is not to spend five days a week working in a studio but two days working and the remaining time selling your work.'

John Fleming, a 60-year-old writer, said: 'A friend of ours used to have a Damien Hirst dot painting but she sold it for £30,000 so she could redecorate her home. When she last looked it was worth around £200,000 but she didn't like the painting and neither do I.

Another typical comment was: 'Look at that, it's Damien Hirst. What is it?'

One middle-aged woman sighed, stepped back, shook her head and then walked away.

A 24-year-old woman said: 'It just looks like wrapping paper to me. Pretty pattern though.'

Some children were more positive, describing the work as 'really cool'.



Ophelia: by Sir John Everett Millais

TOTAL VIEWERS: 562 AVERAGE DWELL TIME: 1 minute, 57 seconds LONGEST LOOK: 30 minutes



THE GALLERY SAYS: Shakespeare's tragic heroine Ophelia is driven mad after her lover Hamlet murders her father.



She slips into a stream while picking flowers and allows herself to drown. Whether it's an accident or intentional, no one really knows.



WHAT HAPPENED? Viewers walked directly to the painting and it attracted everyone from children to the elderly. Two-thirds of lone viewers were women. About half of those who stopped to look discussed the painting. 'I want it in my bedroom,' exclaimed a visitor from Italy.



Shakespeare's heroine: Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais



One group of children knew the name of the painting without looking at the placard. 'The dress is so pretty, I love it,' said a schoolgirl.

One French couple in their 30s stayed for nine minutes, while two 14-year-old Italians took photos of the painting on their phones.



One six-year-old was so entranced, his mother had to take him away after 90 seconds but he wandered back to look again.



Nocturne: Blue And Silver - Cremorne Lights: by James Abbott McNeill Whistler

TOTAL VIEWERS: 104 AVERAGE DWELL TIME: 2 minutes, 5 seconds LONGEST LOOK: 6 minutes



THE GALLERY SAYS: The viewpoint of this painting looks out over the River Thames from Battersea Bridge. The orange lights of Cremorne gardens, which had opened in 1836 as a place of popular entertainment, are reflected in the water to the right. Whistler applies paint in thin, transparent layers to evoke mood.



Landscape: Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights by James Abbott McNeil Whistler



WHAT HAPPENEY? This work attracted many viewers and most stood in silent contemplation. They were a mix of tourists, students and lone middle-aged men and women. One French man with his ten-year-old son pulled out a pocket sketch book and copied it. Those with audio guides stopped on average for a minute.

'It must be so weird to paint nocturnally,' said an American woman in her 30s to a female friend.

Ceseare decanini, on holiday from Rome, said: 'It's elegant and delicate, almost like a dream. I love Whistler. I think he's a very modern painter.'



Damien Hirst Room: by damien hirst

TOTAL VIEWERS: 478 AVERAGE DWELL TIME: 38 seconds LONGEST LOOK: 4 minutes



THE GALLERY SAYS: The collection comprises five important works spanning Hirst's career [they include a dead sheep pickled in formaldehyde, a display of dead butterflies and a photo of a severed head].

WHAT HAPPENED? Around half the viewers glanced and left within 60 seconds. 'Coming in here from the 18th Century works was shocking,' said one woman. 'Back then they thought it was radical to paint a landscape without a house in it. We should be running from things like this.'



Animal: Damien Hirst Room by Damien Hirst



The sheep was a big draw with children, prompting giggles. There was sniggering at the body parts, too, from a work called Trinity. Three boys took photos of an explicit anatomical model.

Two parties of 25 teenagers trooped around accompanied by teachers. 'What is that?' asked one boy. 'A dead sheep? Is it in water or something? It would look good as a coffee table.'

'Ugh,' said an American in his 40s. 'I was shocked when I set foot in this room. It's great to see things like this presented as art but what am I supposed to take away from it?'