People appreciate art more when they see behind the scenes

So says psychology professor Paul Bloom, “You might think that the pleasure you get from a painting depends on its color and its shape and pattern,” but “people’s assessment of it … is deeply affected by what you tell them about it.”¹ This contrasts Georges Poulet’s idea that a reader finds themself most immersed when they know little about the life-story of the author.² Edgar Allan Poe said in 1846, most writers “would positively shudder at letting the public take a peep behind the scenes.”³

Austin Kleon says our work doesn’t speak for itself.⁴ Moreover, pulling back the curtain is vulnerable and vulnerability creates connection.

Rachel Sussman says, “our audience is a human one, and humans want to connect.”⁴