Andrea,
I hope my comment wasn't offensive. It was not meant to be.
It is a good question you ask, and I don't think I have an answer to it. Here's my feeling. Art touches the realm of emotions, and I don' think it is always going to be explainable by words. With that in mind, maybe he word 'taste' wasn't even he right word. I look at John Singer Sargeant's (I know I spelled it wrong) 'Tramp' , and it touches the emotions in a positive way. He wasn't trying to paint the man in a beautiful way. He painted the reality of life of a tramp. MAYBE, but I'm not sure, what hit me wrong was the fact that the three models in these two paintings stare the viewer right in the eye with no fear. It drives something home deeper. In this case something uncomfortable, but in the power of the artist to choose that message.
A thought completely unrelated to these paintings, but on the topic of 'Taste' is this: Have you ever looked at the album covers of today's rock stars? No more gentle Elvis smiles, or fun loving Beatle glances. Today's rock stars look angry. They look as if they want to fight with the viewer. It's not pleasant.
Or maybe it is just me..
Anthony