Art History Research Articles

Features of the Formation of Artistic Means and Techniques of Traditional Chinese Silk Embroidery

The history of the embroidery art in China is at least two thousand years old. During this time, the methods of performing compositions, their purpose, motives, and means of artistic expression were changing. The plastic and technical transformations that occurred with silk embroidery led Chinese masters to creating works that were close in their characteristics to the images of traditional Chinese painting. Based on the surviving embroideries and their fragments, which were created during the period from the reign of the Shang dynasty to the end of the Qing reign, the author of the paper examines the fi gurative specifi cs, as well as the artistic techniques and methods of their implementation. The main task is to show how the visual language of Chinese masters and the corresponding technical features have changed.

Soviet Portrait Painting in China in the 1950s–1960s

Realistic portraiture occupies a special place in the history of Russian art. It had a huge impact on the fi ne arts of China, especially in the Soviet period, since realism and objectivity of the real world were closely intertwined in it, aesthetic perception was presented through artistic images and focused on reality and people. These artistic ideas and techniques suited the interests of the Chinese audience, allowing them to pay even more attention to the charm of modern life. This paper gives an interpretation of the study of Soviet realistic portraiture in China’s art history of the 1950–1960s, both from the side of history and from the side of research methods, and examines the serious infl uence and role of the realistic portrait of the Soviet period on Chinese painting.

Art, photography, and museums for senior students

The present research approaches the need to bring art closer to adult students, analyzing the process and the results of a course in a university program for the public over 55 years old. The interest of these students in art is given in most cases because they would have wanted to study art in their youth. Beyond the usual focus either on art history or artistic workshops, this program generates a multidisciplinary experience, introducing concepts and practices such as urban derive or performance. Aspects such as visual culture or digital technologies and art education are also integrated. This study adopted a research methodology of mixed nature, combining case study with arts-based research. The photographs acquire an important value as a result of the research. The benefits of lifelong learning were evaluated based on the participatory practices taking into account the previous experience of students and their knowledge in this regard. The information collected through individual surveys and focus groups highlighted a positive and rewarding result, according to the students.

Curating a ‘Living Museum’: Art and Justice Interactions at the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

ABSTRACT In 2019, the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina launched an open call, inviting artists, practitioners, art historians and researchers to interact with its extensive collection of socialist-era artworks and in the process launching a ‘Living Museum’. Based on close analysis of two exhibitions that resulted from the open call, this article demonstrates how the turn to the arts and the local turn in transitional justice converged to bring the past, present and future into dialogue in a new type of justice interaction.

Glitch as a Trans Representational Mode in Video Games

Following recent work by transgender studies scholars that has questioned the relationship between queer theory and trans studies, this essay considers how glitch video games, which have previously been considered to be part of the “queer games movement,” use the glitch as a way of representing transgender life. I survey three glitch games, Problem Attic (2013, Liz Ryerson), Strawberry Cubes (2015, Loren Schmidt), and Anatomy (2016, Kitty Horrorshow)—each of which uses the glitch as an expressive visual aesthetic, remediating the analog artifacts of signal noise or error as a sonic and visual quality, as well as a game design principle. These games place an emphasis on the body as that which glitches, exploring the bad feelings of trans embodiment, including dissociation and dysphoria, as well as demonstrating how the glitched body can be both desired and transformative. In the final section, this essay considers how transgender artists and the ways their work foregrounds glitch as an operation of the body are integral not only to glitch art history, but also to video game development more widely, exploring the influence of glitch aesthetics and game design in Pony Island (2016), a glitch video game by cisgender designer, Daniel Mullins.

Paintings in naked-eye virtual reality: a parallax view between the surface and volumetric depth

This article explores a subgenre of naked-eye virtual reality (VR) video that features two-dimensional paintings in a three-dimensional space and is circulated on the Chinese video streaming website Bilibili. In contrast to traditional VR, which requires the spectator to wear a head-mounted display, naked-eye VR offers a stereoscopic view on the screen, eliminating the need for VR glasses. The apparent incongruity between the screen’s physical flatness and the volumetric depth of the painting becomes even more pronounced when the naked-eye VR image emphasises the painting’s inherent two-dimensionality. Employing an interdisciplinary humanities’ method that connects media archaeology, film studies, art history, and the field of science, technology, and society, this paper delves into this distinctive juxtaposition between the painting’s flatness and the volumetric depth characteristic of naked-eye VR, a subgenre that remains mostly uncharted in the field of film and media studies. Taking a media archaeological perspective, this paper introduces a parallax media history, suggesting that the aesthetics of VR can be traced not only to the stereoscope but also to scroll paintings, which are paradoxically defined by their flat compositions. In addition, naked-eye VR references pictorial traditions by generating a spatial illusion that leads spectators to feel as if they are delving beneath the surface of a painting, transitioning from spatial extensivity on the x-y axis to perceived depth along the z-axis. This oscillation between surface and depth is engendered by the horizontal parallax rooted in binocular disparity, thereby positioning naked-eye VR as a “parallax media.” In analysing the illusion created by naked-eye VR, this paper proposes a paradigmatic shift in the framework of media study from conceiving of an image as a mirror to experiencing it as a door, representing the oscillation between volumetric depth and two-dimensional surface.

Faith in the Stars and Architecture: Astrology as an Interpretation of Religious Permanence and the Birth of Modernity

In 1912, Aby Warburg presented his interpretation of the frescoes at the Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara at the 10th International Congress of Art History in Rome. The decision to expound his theory in an academic setting was no coincidence: Warburg’s work, and the subsequent studies of Fritz Saxl, sought to centre the attention of art history on the complex world of astrological studies. The history of astrology demonstrated—via iconological analysis—the migration of knowledge from East to West. Warburg’s innovation was to superimpose the trauma of historical-artistic paths on this network. Through the Schifanoia frescoes, he could reflect upon how an international comparison with the surviving figurative concepts of Eastern Mediterranean civilisations had generated the stylistic transformation of the human figure in Italian art. Warburg defined astrology as ancient religion’s most tenacious form of hidden survival. He traced a path of continuity through art and its relationship to the architectural space hosting it. Astrological illustrations not only enable us to reconstruct the warp and weft of religious permanence but serve as a tool to explain the procedures of iconographic change that led to the Renaissance. After the collapse of paganism, many astrological images survived into the Middle Ages as symbols associated with the essences appropriated by Christianity as its own. A complex store of astrological iconography that migrated from classical cultures and reappeared during the Renaissance's construction of a universal language. Some foretastes emerge in medieval buildings; after a long period in which Christianity and astrology were considered incompatible, astrological language completed and provided meaning to the architecture that welcomed it. Such is the case of the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua. This paper aims to retrace the most significant paths of this migration of symbols through the analysis of such examples of Renaissance architecture as Villa Farnesina in Rome and the aforementioned Palazzo Schifanoia. It will also reflect on the position and training of the architect during the Renaissance and on how astrology was considered both magical thought and a mathematical description that would lead to the discovery of infinity. It is notable that the Farnesina’s astrological contents were dictated by Baldassarre Peruzzi, the building’s architect.

Built to last? Material legacies of Italian colonialism

This essay discusses what is a colonial trace and what can be done with the material legacy of colonialism in the Italian cities. These questions have been asked to scholars, artists, curators, and activists: historians Ruth Ben-Ghiat and Hannes Obermair, visual artist Alessandra Ferrini, art historian and curator Viviana Gravano, writer Igiaba Scego, and two collectives, Resistenze in Cirenaica and Colletivo Tezeta. They discuss their practices and work, but address also more general issues – such as whether Italy is a decolonized country or not. Interviewees looked at specific cases – like the city of Bolzano or the statue of Indro Montanelli in Milan – and analysed different strategies to resignify monuments and street names. The debate around Italy’s colonial legacy, and in particular monuments and street names, is ongoing and unfolding; these interviews will contribute to frame the debate for the years to come.

The Mongol Empire in Global History and Art History, edited by Anne Dunlop

The Mongol Empire in Global History and Art History, edited by Anne Dunlop

«Lay it into the open wounds». Art at war in Maria Kulikovska’s performative sculpture

The paper addresses the work of Ukrainian artist Maria Kulikovska, who resorts to military equipment as artistic materials and to destruction as an artistic method. In the first section, I contextualize Kulikovska’s performative sculpture within art history, claiming that it can be regarded as Destruction Art. In the second section, I turn to Catherine Malabou’s concept of “destructive plasticity” as a philosophical tool of an aesthetics of war, which offers a sound theoretical framework to further understand the implications of Kulikovska’s artistic activity. In the third section, I focus on the main material adopted by Kulikovska, ballistic soap, showing how the artist materially deconstructs inherited dichotomies that keep informing our understanding of wars. By considering the artistic practice of a feminist artist (M. Kulikovska) through the lens of feminist scholarship (K. Stiles, C. Malabou, J. Butler), the paper investigates the relations between war and the arts from a situated perspective.

Theatre art: Conceptual and categorical problems

Theatre art is a fundamental component of modern culture and requires a detailed analysis of the problems of a set of interrelated concepts, which will reflect the key substantive and functional aspects concerning theatre art. The research relevance is determined by the description of the problems of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of theatrical art for the first time is subjected to a complex structural and semantic analysis, which is necessary to determine the study of ways of forming new terms, which will make it possible to present the system of modern theatrical terminology in a holistic form. The study aims to analyse and describe the contemporary problems of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of theatrical art. General scientific methods of art history were used: method of analysis, comparative analysis, synthesis, analogy, and classification. The article investigates the whole stage space as one of the components in the context of the conceptual categorical apparatus of modern art history. Contemporary theatre art is undergoing an active evolution, with artists striving for innovation, using interactive elements, multimedia technology and art installations to create a deep and rich experience for the audience. An important aspect is to involve the viewer in the experience, where the traditional boundaries between actors and audience are blurred and the viewer becomes an active participant. Theatres also emphasise diversity, aiming to reflect different cultures and identities on stage. However, there are problems with the conceptual and categorical apparatus, requiring the development of new terms to accurately describe contemporary phenomena in theatre. Sarcasm and irony prevail, artists seek new directions, and all this happens in the context of the diversity of theatre traditions, creating challenges in the exchange of experiences between cultures. The materials discussed in this article can be applied by both theorists and practitioners of contemporary art history in their writings and as material for teaching in the educational process when training specialists in the field of contemporary art

Fostering cultural heritage awareness through VR serious gaming: A study on promoting Saudi heritage among the younger generation

This study employs a virtual reality (VR) game to examine the role of VR gaming in learning Saudi cultural heritage. By creating 3D (Three-dimensional) virtual heritage buildings, the game immerses players in cultural scenes, fostering a lasting appreciation for art history. Objectives include making heritage information dissemination engaging, blending learning and entertainment in a 3D environment, designing a gamified setting for active learning, and igniting interest in culture, tradition, architecture, and art history. This paper further highlights the significance of serious gaming in promoting the Saudi cultural heritage among the younger generation. The research involved immersing 59 participants into a heritage building environment using a VR game and then probing their experience of the environment through a questionnaire. Results indicate positive participant experiences, increased interest in Saudi cultural heritage and appreciation for VR technology. The study demonstrates the potential of VR games to make heritage accessible and enjoyable for the younger generation, motivating further exploration and learning. Valuable resources are provided for individuals and researchers interested in using VR gaming for cultural heritage engagement.

Deep image prior inpainting of ancient frescoes in the Mediterranean Alpine arc

The unprecedented success of image reconstruction approaches based on deep neural networks has revolutionised both the processing and the analysis paradigms in several applied disciplines. In the field of digital humanities, the task of digital reconstruction of ancient frescoes is particularly challenging due to the scarce amount of available training data caused by ageing, wear, tear and retouching over time. To overcome these difficulties, we consider the Deep Image Prior (DIP) inpainting approach which computes appropriate reconstructions by relying on the progressive updating of an untrained convolutional neural network so as to match the reliable piece of information in the image at hand while promoting regularisation elsewhere. In comparison with state-of-the-art approaches (based on variational/PDEs and patch-based methods), DIP-based inpainting reduces artefacts and better adapts to contextual/non-local information, thus providing a valuable and effective tool for art historians. As a case study, we apply such approach to reconstruct missing image contents in a dataset of highly damaged digital images of medieval paintings located into several chapels in the Mediterranean Alpine Arc and provide a detailed description on how visible and invisible (e.g., infrared) information can be integrated for identifying and reconstructing damaged image regions.

Stredoveké kostoly v Zolnej a Hornom Jasene : poznámky k architektúre a datovaniu

The Gothic churches in Zolná and Horné Jaseno are among the medieval rural sacral buildings in two nearby regions – in Zvolen Hollow Basin and Turiec Hollow Basin, which are often considered to be architectural or art historian circles regions. The architecture of both churches remained somewhat in the shadow of their wall paintings or the problems of monument restoration. The research so far records the basic architectural contexts as well as the fact that they are characterized by certain common features. However, a deeper analysis is lacking and the dating of both buildings is ambiguous, ranging from the second half of the 13th century to the beginning of the 14th century. The church in Zolná is indeed one of the valuable examples of medieval sacral buildings, for which we have available written sources illuminating their origin. Paradoxically, however, this does not make the interpretation of architecture easier, but puts us in front of a methodological problem, whether we prefer the statement of building forms or documents. The purpose of the following post is a more detailed analysis of this problem.

What’s in the Shadows? Formal Analysis: Art History Method to Improve Interpretation Skills for Mammography and Chest Radiographs in Resident Education

To assess the feasibility of using an art history tool of formal analysis in resident education for interpretations of mammography and chest radiographs METHODS: In a pre-post study design, residents were shown pre-selected 10 mammograms and 10 chest radiographs for a total of 20 unique anonymized patient cases. After the pretest, residents attended fourformal analysis art history lessons. The formal elements included line, light, dark, shade, proportion and balance. The post-tests were administered utilizing the same set of images given during the pre-test. After the completion of the pre- and post-tests, the participants filled out a written survey. On average, participants improved their image descriptions for a mean of 30% of the total number of mammographic images they evaluated, and similarly they improved their image diagnoses for a mean of 31% of the mammographic images. On average, participants improved their image descriptions for a mean of 37% of the total number of chest radiographs they evaluated, while improving their image diagnoses for a mean of 52% of the chest X-rays. Of the 20 participants, 14 (70%) completed the post study survey. Almost all of the respondents endorsed agreement in understanding the application of formal analysis to radiologic interpretation. Eight out of 14 (57%) participants self-reported improvement in identifying abnormalities and contriving descriptors. This pilot study shows that formal art analysis used by art historians may improve radiologic learners' ability to perceive and describe relevant radiologic abnormalities which in turn would lead to a more accurate radiologic differential diagnosis. The formal analysis process trains the eye to detect and categorize the underlying structure of images. This method provides an alternative arts intervention specifically designed to improve fundamental visual skills in radiology education.

Academician Alexander Konstantinovich Krylov as a teacher and educator

The subject of this article is the activities of Academician Alexander Konstantinovich Krylov - Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, painter, laureate of the International Prize named after N.K. Roerich, as a teacher and educator. This is a study of the contribution of Academician Alexander Konstantinovich Krylov to the development of education and science, his teaching methods, pedagogical and educational principles. The author examines in detail the scientific, teaching, social, and creative activities of A.K. Krylova and pays special attention to the educational activities of the academician. The author also presents a complete list of institutions that, according to the State Catalog of the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation and data provided by the artist himself, store his works. The research methodology is presented by the historical method, biographical method, and comparative method. Also, during the preparation of the article, a study was conducted on the basis of archival documents, publications, and pedagogical works of A.K. Krylov and his students. The main conclusions of the study are the creative portrait of the artist presented in this message, which has independent cultural and historical significance and expresses the deeply personal attitude of the author, who hopes that the information and characteristics he collected will be useful to future biographers of the outstanding Russian artist, academician of painting A. K. Krylov. The novelty of the research lies in the generalization of the creative materials of Academician A.K. Krylov, which can be in demand by aspiring artists, art historians, cultural experts, historians and everyone who cherishes the tragic and happy milestones of the steady spiritual growth of Russia - in the past, present and future.

Debating the Bascom controversy: revisiting the expropriation and repatriation of the Ifẹ̀ bronzes

AbstractIn 1937–38, the American doctoral candidate William R. Bascom conducted anthropological research in the sacred Yorùbá city of Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Nigeria. Bascom’s visit was a decisive moment in the history of African art, as, in 1938, he observed the chance discovery of unique copper and copper alloy heads, two of which he acquired and exported to the USA. Bascom’s actions in 1938, and his subsequent conflicts with British officials who demanded the return of the heads in the 1940s, have become matters of controversy and scholarly debate. Historian Robert Tignor and anthropologist Simon Ottenberg have presented contrasting arguments regarding the affair. This article draws on material from several archives to shed further light on this discussion, resolve remaining areas of dispute, and explore what the study of this controversy tells us about the nature and practice of anthropology, the impacts of Western exhibitions of African art, and early cultural preservation and repatriation efforts of the late colonial period. At a time when colonial-era collecting practices are facing increased critical re-examination, and with intensified calls for the repatriation of Nigerian cultural patrimony in Western museums, this article reflects on how the study of this controversy contributes to present restitution efforts.

Abstract States: Modernism in Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey

Abstract A decade after modernist art history's tentative embrace of postcolonial modernisms, a new crop of books are leveraging this disciplinary acceptance to examine hitherto shrouded aspects of the field. Anneka Lenssen's, Beautiful Agitation: Modern Painting and Politics in Syria (2020), Zeina Maasri's, Cosmopolitan Radicalism: The Visual Politics of Beirut's Global Sixties (2020) and Sarah-Neel Smith's, Metrics of Modernity: Art and Development in Postwar Turkey, (2022) offer candid appraisals of postcolonial modernism's exposure to colonial and nationalist institutions, Cold War cultural networks, and the hierarchical effects of canonical modernism. Reviewed together in this article, these books reveal the distinctive orientations of modernism in contiguous Syria, Lebanon and Turkey along with the methodological value of formalist methods to assert artistic agency. Through refractive readings of artworks and other materials, Lenssen, Maasri and Smith invert disciplinary anxieties about postcolonial art's political subjection, making a case for postcolonial art's perceptiveness to the instability and abstraction of the institutional forces to which they are subject.

Vocal and arranging solutions for broadcasting Kuban Cossack folk songs: methodology and practice

The object of the research is performance as a theoretical and methodological basis for the preservation of folk songs in the modern world. The subject of this work is a variety of tools for translating sources through the use of interpretation through vocal arrangements. The purpose of this study is to find performance techniques for comprehending the folklore of the Kuban Cossack song, illustrative popularization of the real listener through a new reading of the original source. In identifying the substantial foundations of song performance, special attention is focused on the music collections of folklorists V. G. Zakharchenko (born 1938), A. D. Bigdai (1855-1909), G. M. Kontsevich (1863-1937), who made a significant contribution to the foundations of the Kuban Cossack folk singing art. Along with this, the analysis of a wide range of vocal arrangements in the practice of professional and amateur vocalists provides a postulation about the ambiguity of interpolation in the formation of an original reading of folklore documents. The theoretical justification of this study is based on the tactics of analyzing endemic folklore singing concepts in the context of the art history dynamics of modern research. The methodological core of the work identifies the elements of preserving traditional performance through the vocally processed embodiment of Kuban Cossack folk songs. The author's direction has been developed in the complex of the constituent elements of the arranging performance, based on the personality of the vocalist, containing an individual interpretation of the performing plurality. The performing techniques of folklore Cossack sources has been formed. Exceptional accents are identified in the analysis of musical folklore sources (selectively) to establish new technical characteristics of performance. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the genesis of Cossack culture for the author's constructive orientation of ways to preserve and transform musical material to a modern listener. The characteristics of the song material according to the genre-performing component, expressed by the system of mechanisms of performance by vocal-performing solutions, are revealed. The derived orientation of the translation mechanisms opens up new facets of the performance of Kuban Cossack folk songs for the preservation of traditions with multifaceted options for the transformation of folklore documents for subsequent generations.

The medieval bronze doors of San Zeno, Verona: combining material analyses and art history

The bronze doors of the Basilica of San Zeno in Verona, Italy, are a special case in art history research. They were made by several workshops during the twelfth century: stylistically, two to three workshops were assumed to produce the metal parts of the door. However, it is still unclear when exactly and if this interpretation can be supported by the chemical composition of the metal. In this research we aimed to verify the art history interpretation by identifying the alloy composition of each individual metal plate. The composition of the supporting wooden structures are discussed. A portable ED-XRF instrument and optical microscopes were used to analyse and document the doors non-invasively. The doors were also photographed to produce high resolution orthophotos and 3D models. We can confirm that the metal parts of the doors were made of leaded tin-bronze as well as leaded brass and mounted on a wooden structure mainly made of spruce and oak wood. Chemically, two/three different groups of alloys have been identified, which can be associated with two or three different workshops, and which largely correspond to the stylistic interpretation.