Personality, affective and motivational variables were examined in relation to art appreciation. More specifically, sensation seeking, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, affective state and mood of participants were examined in relation to the appreciation for Realist, Expressionist and Abstract Expressionist paintings of positive/neutral and sad mood. Sensation seeking was found to moderate each of the associations of painting arousal, abstraction and mood to preference for the paintings. Openness approached significance in moderating the association between abstraction and liking, and was associated with higher preference for paintings of a negative mood. Participant positive affect was associated with higher overall preference for paintings. Negative affect was associated with perceiving the mood of paintings as more negative. When presented with information about the extrinsic value of paintings (monetary worth of the paintings, painter fame, museum status), participants increased liking for paintings that were assigned higher value. Contrary to expectation, intrinsic aspirations and autonomy orientation tended to be associated with higher preference for paintings that were assigned higher value. Extrinsic aspirations were associated with increased preference for abstract paintings that were assigned higher extrinsic value.