playing favorites...or not

I study art and architectural history so I'm often on the receiving end of the question "who is your favorite artist/architect?" I find this a very difficult question to answer because how do you decide on a favorite? For me this cannot be a spontaneous decision but one that I need to sit down and take some time to determine. Mmmm, but doesn't that mean if I have to decide, then whatever it is isn't my favorite? I want to say that my favorites change all the time and often depend on who/what I'm obsessing over at the time...but, unfortunately I am a pretty forgetful person even when it comes to obsessions. When it comes to my research, sometimes this makes me wonder if I do in fact like art and architecture enough to be studying it. On the other hand, the only favorite I can reliably answer to is my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and I can't say I want to study that (aside from the fact that I'm notoriously bad at analyzing literary devices and such). Perhaps this is my only favorite since it consistently gives me feelings of pleasure and titillation every time I read it? What I study is often not my favorite. The fact that I'm studying it, the insights I gain from studying it give me pleasure, but the object itself does not. I guess when I think of favorites, the thing itself has to please me.