A challenge posed by modern art, especially since the birth of the readymade, is how it is possible to discern art from non-art; institutional theories of art suggest that institutional sanctioning is the primary condition for the identification of an object as art. Here, we propose an explanation for the way that such institutional sanctioning might be reflected in the cognitive work of a viewer, and describe this effect as part of a continuum of behaviours that generate deeper, more varied and ultimately more effort-intensive interpretations of both art and other aspects of the human experience.

Art theory has consistently emphasised the importance of situational, cultural, institutional and historical factors in viewers’ experience of fine art. However, the link between this heavily context-dependent interpretation and the workings of the mind is often left unexamined. Drawing on relevance theory—a prominent, cogent and productive body of work in cognitive pragmatics—we here argue that fine art achieves its effects by prompting the use of cognitive processes that are more commonly employed in the interpretation of words and other stimuli presented in a communicative context. We describe in particular how institutional factors effectively co-opt these processes for new ends, allowing viewers to achieve cognitive effects that they otherwise would not, and so provide cognitivist backing for an Institutional Theory of Art, such as that put forward by Arthur Danto (1964). More generally, we situate and describe the Western fine art tradition as a phenomenon that is a consequence of both the cognitive processes involved in communication, and of cultural norms, practices and institutions.

In the published article the following information should have been included: Acknowledgment TSP was financially supported by Durham University’s Addison Wheeler bequest and by the European Research Council, under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013)/ERC grant agreement no. 609819 (Somics project).

Art theory has consistently emphasised the importance of situational, cultural, institutional and historical factors in viewers’ experience of fine art. However, the link between this heavily context-dependent interpretation and the workings of the mind is often left unexamined. Drawing on recent developments in cognitive pragmatics, we here argue that fine art achieves its effects by prompting the use of cognitive processes that are more commonly employed in the interpretation of words and other stimuli presented in a communicative context, drawing an analogy between gallery framing and communicative emphasis. More generally, we situate and describe the Western fine art tradition as a phenomenon that is a consequence of both human biological heritage and of cultural norms, practices and institutions.