Art History Research Articles

Systematising the Main Fund of the Museum of the Academy of Arts in 1948 (based on the materials from the archive of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts)

The article is devoted to the important year in the history of the Museum of the Academy of Fine Arts. It was in 1948 that the restoration of the Museum began after the Great Patriotic War. The article was written on the basis of museum documents of that time, now stored in the Archive of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts and making it possible to study the lost museum valuables and the reasons for their loss. The article is extremely useful for art historians involved in the provenance of works of art, museologists and museum staff, as it publishes archival information that is being introduced into scientifi c circulation for the fi rst time.

Russian Magazine Illustration of the First Third of the 19th Century in the Works of D. A. Rovinsky

Dmitry Aleksandrovich Rovinsky is familiar to every researcher of printed graphics. His scientifi c heritage forms the basis of classical literature on the history of Russian engraving. Nevertheless, the full potential of the researcher’s works has not yet been exhausted. In modern art criticism, new research topics are emerging, allowing us to look at D. A. Rovinsky’s works from new points of view. This article is devoted to the work of the scientist in the fi eld of Russian magazine pictures of the fi rst third of the 19th century. The problems of scientifi c development of this material are identifi ed. The directions of research and scientifi c approaches used by D. A. Rovinsky are analysed. The results of the work of the engraving expert and its value for modern art history are determined.

Ethnic aspects in educational design: Integrating the arts into the preparation of future teachers to promote the development of ethnocultural harmony in education

Relevance. The relevance of the problem under study is conditioned by the growing ethnocultural diversity of modern societies and the need to form harmonious interethnic relations. Purpose. The work aims to develop and test pedagogical design on the use of art opportunities in training future teachers for the development of their ethnocultural competence. Methodology. The study employed theoretical methods (structural-functional analysis, induction), empirical methods (pedagogical experiment, questionnaire, mathematical statistics), and methodological approaches (systemic, reductionist). Results. The research determined principles for selecting the content of art and aesthetic disciplines: multiculturalism, interdisciplinary and dialogicality. The effectiveness of the methodology was confirmed during a formative pedagogical experiment, showing a significant increase in the ethnocultural competence of students in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusions. Key pedagogical conditions for successfully implementing the developed methodology include close interdisciplinary integration of art history courses and the inclusion of ethnocultural content in art disciplines. This integration helps form systemic ideas about the artistic diversity of Kazakhstan's people and fosters a valuable attitude towards the cultural heritage of all ethnic groups. The practical significance lies in using the developed pedagogical design to prepare teachers for working in a multicultural environment. Keywords: interethnic tolerance; author�s elective course; multicultural education; multicultural educational environment

Through the Eyes of the Beholder: Motifs (Re)Interpreted in the 27th Dynasty

This paper aims to highlight examples of artistic motifs common throughout Egyptian history but augmented in novel ways during the 27th Dynasty, a time when Egypt was part of the Achaemenid empire and ruled by Persian kings. These kings represented themselves as traditional pharaohs within Egypt’s borders and utilized longstanding Egyptian artistic motifs in their monumental constructions. These motifs, however, were manipulated in subtle ways to send targeted messages to audience(s) of this art. Art historians tend to situate visual styles and motifs within the longue durée of artistic tradition and pick a singular, official, and centralized perspective to narrate the history and reception of that art. In the case of Egypt, this perspective is often that of the king, and there is an assumption that there was a monolithic message sent to his people. But we are not dealing with a homogenous people; a diverse population would have had varied reactions to and interpretations of this visual signaling. By highlighting both the augmentation of traditional motifs undertaken by the Achaemenid administration and the multiplicity of perspectives they held for their audience(s), we can better understand ancient art as being dynamic in function and interpretation, rather than as a static snapshot of carbon-copied royal authority.

Heroes Make History—Reviews Pevsner’s View of History and Its Shaping of Art History

Heroes Make History—Reviews Pevsner’s View of History and Its Shaping of Art History

Jeff Koons’ Moon Odyssey: The Return of Post-Minimal Sculpture

The two-year epic of sending a sculpture by Jeff Koons to the Moon on an expedition aboard the Odysseus spaceship is almost over: the module with the world’s first authorized public sculpture on the surface of another extraterrestrial body of the Solar System made a landing but overturned, entering the phase of hibernation. It is not yet clear whether and when it will be possible to directly land the sculpture on the surface of the Earth’s satellite. However, despite the obstacles of its inhospitable field conditions, the project has, in addition to the orbital conquistador mission, two other functional parts that are quite effective: ground collection consisting of approximated elements of the object, which are advertised in media, and digital NFT site-specific sculpture. Expert analysis of the available information allowed us to state another recycling of the sculptural ideas of the 1960s–1970s, known in art history under the definition of “postminimalism” or “systemic art,” which were associated with the “Art in Public Place” programs of the National Council on Arts and the NASA-compatible program “Space City. USA.” Therefore, a much talked-about breakthrough into new horizons of quasi-modern plastic art has not taken place.

The Phenomenon of New Spanish Baroque: An Architectural Aspect

The paper provides a brief overview of the academic literature on the New Spanish Baroque architecture history. The genesis and spectrum of the scientific opinion of the leading Mexican researchers in this area have been studied and presented. Sculpture is briefly mentioned as a type of fine art inextricably linked to Baroque architecture. The New Spanish Baroque classification modalities according to Manuel González Galván is also presented. The authors and their works mentioned in the article were previously unknown to the Ukrainian researchers. Unfortunately, none of these studies have been translated into Ukrainian. The article introduces the information about the New Spanish Baroque, its main researchers, architects and monuments into the national scientific circulation, opening up opportunities for further art-historical and cultural studies and a deeper study of the history of architecture and art of New Spain Baroque era.

Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue: On the Ukrainian Abstract Art of the 1960s

The paper focuses on the creative experiments of Ukrainian artists during the 1960s in the field of abstract art, analyzing them against the background of social and cultural events of the time, which were reflected in the features of artistic life. In this regard, Western fine art revealed to Ukrainian artists during the years of the Thaw after decades of strict separation from foreign art during the Stalinist era, was a profound influence on them. However, the perception of the Western experience was rather specific due to the lack of information and theoretical understanding of the latest trends, as most works of world art became known in Ukraine through the exhibitions in Moscow and printed reproductions. The ambiguity of the cultural policy in the USSR played a significant role here, where the official declaration of the renewal of art and the right of artists to individual self-expression were combined with a new ideological attack on creativity. State control over art gained new dimensions, due to which the authors’ experiments in the realm of abstract painting were doomed to exist in the circle of unofficial art. The article examines the “campaign against abstractionism and Western influences” launched by the authorities in the early 1960s, which had a dramatic impact on individual creative destinies. Using the example of artists from Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Uzhgorod, the article analyzes creative directions in the realm of painterly abstraction, the features of its versions in Ukraine. It is significant that in most cases the appeal to non-figurative art remained only an episode in the work of artists, or coexisted with other ways of figurative expression. Abstract art in Ukraine generally was experimental, the presence of similar works in the art of the late Soviet era testified to a deep crisis of the socialist realist doctrine, the affirmation of individual creative thinking. Abstract works of Ukrainian artists of the 1960s are an important page in the history of Ukrainian art.

Church music of Kyivan Rus in the formation of religious-aesthetic ideals and mental-ideological attitudes of Orthodoxy

In 2024, the church music of Ukrainian Orthodoxy requires a thorough analysis of its impact on cultural identity and spiritual development over the centuries. Church hymns, through the synthesis of arts and sacraments, facilitated the interaction between music and liturgical text, enriching liturgical practice and the spirituality of Kyivan Rus. In 2024, the problem of the spiritual revival of the nation, its cultural identity through the involvement of hesychast traditions in Orthodox church practice acquires new relevance and expediency. The purpose of the article is to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the religious-aesthetic, theological, and cultural ideas of hesychia, which were manifested in the church-musical practice of liturgical services and influenced the spirituality of the Orthodox person over the course of a thousand-year history. The study applies art history and cultural studies approaches, uses methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and interaction of cultural affiliation and spiritual progress of the nation. It has been scientifically proven and substantiated that the musical art of the Kyivan Rus became the personification of spiritual transformations, formed the mental and ideological constructs of Eastern Christianity in its ancient Old Rus form thanks to Orthodox liturgical music. According to the results of scientific analysis, it appears that the adoption of Eastern Christianity in Kyivan Rus became a fundamental milestone in the development of its musical culture, which was significantly influenced by the patristic doctrine and spirituality, in particular hesychast views and customs that came to Rus from Athos. It is proved that church music in Kyivan Rus was filled with God’s light, spiritual “energy”, peace-making harmony, balanced tempo-rhythm and soulful melody, it was a manifestation of “sonorous” divine silence, “singing with thoughts”. This research will be appropriate in curricula on the history of music, on the history of sacred art, on Christian ethics and aesthetics, for further scientific and educational research of church Orthodox chants and their relationship with Byzantine hesychast practice in the context of mutual influence on mentality, worldview, religious and aesthetic ideal

The Phenomenon of Creative Heritage in Socio-Humanitarian Discourse

The main idea of the article is to address the phenomenon of creative heritage as an independent basic concept of modern socio-humanitarian research. Having analyzed a certain corpus of works in the field of memorial cultural practices, the authors came to the conclusion that there is no instrumental distinction of the concepts “cultural memory”, “artistic heritage”, “creative heritage” in this discursive field. The novelty of the study lies in analyzing the specificity of the concept “creative heritage”, as well as its role in contemporary socio-humanitarianism in general and art history in particular. Since the field of applied interest of the authors lies in the sphere of a specific art form — dance, practical conclusions are drawn in relation to it. It is emphasized that along with the generally accepted methods of research in a given discursive space — typological, structural, functional, biographical — the method of humanitarian blockchain and the concept of “artistic code of the epoch” proposed earlier by one of the co-authors can be used to study the creative heritage of a person (creative group) in the history of art. Emphasis is placed on the relevance of this research policy in connection with the current geopolitical agenda, the practices of “culture of cancellation” being implemented before our eyes, and, accordingly, the need to develop effective projects in the sphere of state cultural policy, forming the working contours of cultural memory and national identity. The problem of identifying, studying and preserving the creative heritage as part of the cultural heritage acquires special relevance in the realities of the modern historical stage — the “early digital era”, accompanied by the rapid development of digital technologies, including destructive ones such as deepfake. The practical potential of the development of this concept is particularly noted, which allows for the consistent preservation of traditions and innovations in artistic activities, to use both the formed array of cultural heritage of different levels and the potential of creative cultural industries.

Otfried Preussler’s Fairy Tales and Their Russian Illustrators

The article is devoted to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the German writer O. Preussler (1923—2013), whose works have gained popularity among children in many countries and have been repeatedly translated into different languages, including the language of fine arts. The most important facts of the jubilee’s biography are listed, the peculiarities of his approach to the genre of fairy tales, to folklore images and plots are characterized, and the master’s statements about children’s literature and his own work are given. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze the most significant and successful illustrations by Russian artists for the writer’s works. The main task is to compare them on the basis of book studies, art history and source research methods. This task, which has not yet been set in Russian book science, seems to be topical, since O. Preussler’s works are still popular among domestic readers and are constantly republished, but the visual range of these publications often leaves much to be desired.Graphic interpretations of a particularly favorite fairy tale trilogy in Russia — “The Little Water Sprite”, “The Little Witch”, “The Little Ghost” — are considered. The author of the article concludes that the images of the Little Witch and the Little Ghost (whose appearance is not described in the text) are difficult for artists, so their convincing pictorial interpretations are rare. I.I. Kabakov, N.G. Golts, B.A. Diodorov, D.A. Trubin, and E.A. Silina are among the best illustrators of the tales that make up the trilogy. Among the pictorial interpretations of other works by O. Preussler the drawings by L.A. Tokmakov and S.A. Krestovsky for the story “Krabat and the Sorcere’s Mill”, G.K. Spirin for “The Tale of the Unicorn”, V.N. Zuikov and V.S. Lubarov for the book “The Hörbe and His Friend Zwottel” stand out. It is shown how these art works reflect the peculiarities of the author’s intonation and reveal the hidden meaning of O. Preussler’s works. In them, as well as in the writer’s texts, there is no boring edification, but there is a game of liberated imagination, life-affirming humor, sincere empathy with the heroes. Following the author, the illustrators reinterpret traditional folklore motifs, discovering new qualities in them.

Exhibitions of Art Works from Private Collections of Kazan in the Second Half of 19th — Beginning of 20th Century

The article uses the example of Kazan to reveal the process of organizing and holding exhibitions of artworks from private collections in the Russian pre-revolutionary province. Addressing this topic, which has not been sufficiently studied in the history of Russian art, is relevant because it expands the understanding of the phenomenon of exhibition activity, which is one of the most important aspects of artistic life in Russia. The source base of the present study is the catalogues of four exhibitions of paintings from private collections held from 1873 to 1916, as well as publications in the Kazan press of this period. The peculiarities of the organizational process, selection and exposition of works, and the owners of the works are revealed. It is established that the exhibitions were of charitable nature: their proceeds were directed either in favour of the starving or poor, or in favour of Russian soldiers. The main collectors of art works in Kazan in the second half of the 19th century were predominantly landed gentry and university professors (who came from the families of personal nobles and officials). By the early 20th century, representatives of individual merchant families also had significant art collections. The exhibited works represented the whole variety of genres, but they were dominated by landscapes and portraits, primarily family portraits, suitable for decorating mansions. Catalogues allow us to conclude that local collectors of the second half of the 19th century were primarily interested in foreign art (masters of the Italian, Flemish, Dutch, Belgian, German and French schools, mainly of the 17—18 centuries), as well as (to a lesser extent) Russian academic painting (from V.L. Borovikovsky and D.G. Levitsky to D. Zakharov) and itinerant painters (I.I. Shishkin, N.A. Yaroshenko). By the end of the 19th century, the vector of collectors’ preferences shifted towards contemporary Russian art (works by Makovskys, I.E. Repin, etc. were collected), and collecting works by local artists (K.V. Bardou, L.D. Kryukov, R.A. Stupin, N.I. Zeblov, etc.) began to develop as a special direction.

The future of Canadian art history and visual culture at York University

The future of Canadian art history and visual culture at York University

Violencia de Obregón desde los lentes revisionistas de los estudios del género

Violencia (1962) by Alejandro Obregón is a milestone in the history of art in Colombia. It is regarded as an artwork that found a way to symbolize the violence suffered throughout Colombia’s territory and history through modernist tropes. The fusion of body-woman with territory-mountain has been analyzed as a formal strategy to solve the need for a non-literal image of war, but this iconic work has not yet been problematized from the perspective of gender studies. Body politics, studies on the male gaze, and ecofeminism provide the theoretical apparatus that will allow me to argue that Obregón’s painting poses a simultaneous process of territorialization of the body and feminization of the territory, where both body-woman and territory-nature are represented with analogous passive traits.

The Pictorial Saga of Social Control: An Analysis of Political and Social Symbolism in Dunhuang Murals

The objective of this study is to investigate the historical role of Dunhuang murals as a tool for political and social control. By conducting a thorough analysis of the themes, elements, and textual content of the murals, the study findings revealed how these artworks reflected the political ideologies, social norms, and moral values prevalent during their creation. This article aims to clarify this perspective from a multidisciplinary standpoint, drawing upon insights from art history, political science, and sociology to provide fresh interpretations grounded in both theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence. The research underscores that art serves as a reflection of political will, engages in a dynamic interplay with social control, and serves as an innovative platform for political propaganda, thereby demonstrating a profound interconnection and intricate relationship between art, power dynamics, and societal structures.

Study of the Impressions of the Guanfo Statues in the Longmen Grottoes and Social and Cultural Changes

The Dharma seal expressed in the Buddha statues is according to certain rules. The image of the provider represented is not only the image of the Buddhists who make and worship Buddha statues, but also an image for them to establish their own existence as a subject of the emperor, a member of the state. The image of the provider represented is not only the image of the Buddhists who make and worship Buddha statues, but also an image for them to establish their own existence as a subject of the emperor, a member of the state and society. The role of Dharma seal originated from the Shakya sect in ancient India, and in the early Mahayana Buddhist portraits and statues, There are usually only five impressions. This paper expounds the main types of Buddhist statues (taking the statues in the Longmen Grottoes Museum as an example) and summarizes their main functions. This paper expounds the main types of Buddhist statues (taking the statues in the Longmen Grottoes Museum as an example) and summarizes their main functions. By taking part in the field investigation, the author finds out the similarities and differences between the same By taking part in the field investigation, the author finds out the similarities and differences between the same type of prints by using the method of comparative historical argumentation, summarizes the social and cultural changes in the history of art, and puts summarizes the social and cultural changes in the history of art, and puts forward a new viewpoint.

In the beginning, there was the analogue. An alternative history of the beginnings of computer art

Since the late 1960s, the historiography of computer art has been developing a canon that is progressively broadening. However, this canon reveals significant blind spots, particularly due to the predominant success of digital computers leading to computer art being almost exclusively identified with digital technology. This identification overlooks other significant classes of computers, notably analogue and hybrid systems, leaving the contributions, artworks, and ideas of many early pioneers in the field unrecognized. Consequently, the history of art created with analogue and hybrid computers remains largely unexplored both in art history and media archaeology. This article seeks to illuminate this relatively obscure chapter of history by introducing the individuals and projects that utilized analogue computers, drawing on previously unknown historical sources. The aim is to underscore the historical significance of a technology that is currently experiencing a resurgence of interest in the field of computer science. The findings reveal that before the advent of artistic experiments with digital computers, analogue computers were the subject of pioneering exploration. The real-time intuitive operation of analogue computers was a unique advantage, foreshadowing a human-machine relationship now commonplace with digital technology. The narrative of the analogue computer constitutes an essential domain for understanding the diversity of computing technologies at the dawn of the computer age. Despite the scarcity of sources documenting these artistic endeavors, this article serves as a call to action for further research in this neglected area.

The Other Side of Language, Literature, and Living: A Call to Hedge the Dying Art

A written document is no longer treated as a piece of literature; rather, readers' needs have surpassed the limits of traditional expectations, beyond the purview of common scrutiny. A piece of writing has become a stale reminder of the time spent; the recurrent images of everyday life and living, the bread and butter of the populace, their anguish and pain, the contours of traditional moorings, nuances and nemesis, rituals and rebuttals clubbed together have become the choice of the present time. The big question, therefore, is to bring in necessary modifications to our notions and approaches towards literature, without which it amounts to infidelity with the readership. The present paper aims to highlight how different elements of behavioural knowledge are intelligibly incorporated in the verses of Ghodanacha and how they influenced the life and living of Kaibartas/Keuts for ages as scriptures of inspiration, encouragement, and discipline. This will connect the art's history, evolution, and current state as it stands at the gateway to its own graveyard.

Bamboo, Landscape, Monumentality: Guan Daoscheng's View by the Bamboo and Streams Scroll

In this paper, I aim to reappraise the status of Guan Daoshen, one of the most well-known women artists across Chinese art history. Previous scholarship on her and her works has not only been scarce but also limited to her identity as a woman. I attempt to enrich the academic conversation on Guan through an examination of her painting View by the Bamboo and Stream Scroll (竹溪攬勝軸, 1309 b.c.). I argue that she contests the canonical modes to represent bamboo and the established conventions associated with the formats of scrolls. Specifically, the painting illustrates Guan’s innovative interpretation of shu hua tong yuan and obfuscation of the boundaries between hanging scrolls and handscrolls. In conclusion, the innovations presented by this painting broadened the repertoire of Yuan Dynasty literati paintings, which posits her as a significant figure within the genealogy of Chinese art history instead of a mere female counterpart of the male-dominated literati milieu.

Analysis of Matisse's Painting Style

Henry Matisse is an important representative of contemporary "Fauvism" and a revolutionary figure in Western art history. The artistic concept he advocated broke free from the constraints of traditional painting, broke free from traditional colors and forms, and achieved a revolutionary innovation. "The Harmony of Red" is an important work by Mattis, who abandoned traditional views and created a harmonious, relaxed, and peaceful atmosphere by linking colors with vine patterns. This transformation has had a profound impact on contemporary painting.