Century Art Research Articles

Alexander Benois on the Russian art of the 18th century

Alexander Benois, like other critics and art historians directly or indirectly associated with the World of Art association, stands at the origins of the discovery of Russian 18th century art culture as a full-fledged creative heritage. In this sense, the views of Benoit and his associates were in opposition to the opinion, prevailing in the second half of the 19th century, that Russian art, starting from the Petrin time and, practically, until the crisis of classicism, represents a break in development and a sad example of senseless imitation of the West. This idea was clearly expressed in the works at the turn of the century, which is especially noticeable in the works of A.P. Novitsky and V.V. Stasov. To this opinion Benoit opposes his concept, based on the recognition of the high importance of art as such, regardless of the value of its official functions. This found a vivid embodiment in his works “Russian Painting of the 19th century” and “The Russian School of Painting”, where A.N. Benois gives a succinct and expressive description of the visual language of Russian and foreign masters of portrait, landscape and historical painting. While recognizing the Russian art of this time as essentially pan-European, he nevertheless does not ignore the problem of national specifics.

The Landbound Chicken and the Deliberate Chameleon yet have their Uses: Yorùbá Art History, Language, and Interpretation.

Rowland Abiodun’s Yorùbá Art and Language contains many extremely valuable features, wrapped around a question he raises in its introduction: can foreign scholars ever truly understand a work the way its Yorùbá makers and users do? Language mastery certainly provides the native speaker with access to inestimable insights regarding not only general worldview, but specifics of philosophy, history keeping, and subtleties of knowledge transmission. However, in the attempt to read an artwork and unpack its meaning, cultural in[1]siders also face obstacles as well as advantages, particularly when pieces date from the more distant past. The import of Abiodun’s major contributions regarding Yorùbá art’s history and the validity of his contentions are considered here in light of the varied contributions both foreign and Yorùbá art historians bring to Yorùbá scholarship, in the recognition that working with art of bygone centuries makes all scholars outsiders to a degree.
 
 A kì í gbójú-u fífò lé adìẹ àgàgà; à kì í gbójú-u yíyan lé alágẹmọ. One should not expect the flightless chicken to soar; one should not expect the chameleon to stride.
 
 Can outsiders ever truly understand a work of art the way its makers and users do? In the introduction to his book Yorùbá Art and Language: Seeking the African in African Art, Rowland Abiodun concludes that only those with a mastery of the Yorùbá language and deep cultural familiarity can interpret Yorùbá artworks effectively. His argument produces numerous salie observations and the viewing framework he creates provides an exceedingly valuable set of lenses for interpreting Yorùbá sculpture. However, the question posed above remains intriguing, and is more complex than it appears. Even when an artist and his patron live in the same community at the same time, their interpretations of a commissioned work may not be identical, so when one moves out to the analyses of art historians, Yorùbá or not, one cannot necessarily assume a third party will understand the work just as its maker and user did. Additional corollaries to the question exist as well. What are the parameters of outsider status? Do they constitute a spectrum? Do insider advantages always trump outsiders’ perceptions? These issues become even more pertinent as distance from our own era increases. While the question of outsider/insider status does not constitute the thrust of Abiodun’s book, it is a major aspect of his introduction, and thus worth considering.1 While this paper considers the unique multiple contributions of Abiodun’s book, it also argues that careful considerations of objects and context can be made by outsiders, while insiders, like all researchers, can choose to ignore elements that conflict with their own preconceptions, develop greater interest in one topic than another, generalize their known experience to the whole of Yorubaland or apply it half a millennium into the past. While these perspectives differ, one does not automatically eclipse the other.

Искусство по обе стороны реальности. (Статья первая)

In a broad cultural and philosophical discourse, the comparison and differentiation of two layers of artistic reality in the 20th century, defining “the position of postmodern” (J.-F. Lyotard), are considered. It should be noted that in the 20th century art, without completely excluding the narrative-type artistic reality, was increasingly mastering the post-narrative artistic reality, but most often combined both artistic realities — modern and postmodern. The comprehension of art on both sides of reality presupposes the combination of narrative and post-narrative artistic realities as two layers of meaning covering the “vital reality” displayed and simultaneously overcome by them from both sides. The combination of “one’s own” text as the author’s narrative of life reality and the interweaving of “others” texts, ironically or creatively reflected in the form of a post-narrative texture, are put together as a two-layer text that contrasts “the life reality” in two ways. These provisions are confirmed by a number of literary examples.

Suit of Nikita Koshkin "Toys of the Prince" in the context of the dynamics of renewal of guitar art of the XX century

Purpose of the article is to study the nature of the embodiment of the peculiarities of the creative method of M. Koshkin in the «Prince's Toys» suite. Methodology. To solve the set tasks, genre-style analysis and executive analysis were used. Scientific novelty: this work is an illumination of the results of one's own experience in interpreting M. Koshkin's suite «The Prince's Toys» based on a combination of performing and research activities. Nikita Koshkin's guitar music is viewed in conjunction with the general dynamics of the 20th century's art renewal. Conclusions. When creating music for the guitar, the composer skillfully used the potential of this instrument. The work on the composition took into account the historical possibilities of the guitar in the performance of classical music, including the entire experience of the existence of a six-string guitar. The language of Koshkin's works always comes from the specifics of the guitar. The composer-guitarist uses all the resources of the instrument in order to create the effect of its versatility, to demonstrate the boundlessness of its possibilities.

Dutch Flower Still Life of 17th Century: Interest and Oblivion through the Centuries

Over three and a half centuries, the genre of flower still life created by Dutch artists experienced ups of interest and oblivion. There were the maximum assessment of society in the form of high fees of the 17th century artists; the criticism of connoisseurs and art theorists; the neglect in the 19th century and the rise of auction prices and close attention of art critics, manifested from the middle of the 20th century to the present day. In the middle of the 17th century, there was already a hierarchy of genres, based on both the subject and the size of the paintings, which was reflected in the price. Still lifes and landscapes were cheaper than allegorical and historical scenes, but there were exceptions, for example, in the works of Jan Brueghel the Elder and Jan Davidsz. de Heem. Art theorists Willem van Hoogstraten and Arnold Houbraken, resting upon academic tastes, downplayed the importance of still-life painting. Meanwhile, the artists themselves, determining the worth of their paintings, sought for maximum naturalism, and such paintings were sold well.In the 20th century, this genre attracted the attention of collectors in Europe and the United States. A revival of interest in Dutch still lifes in general, and in flower ones in particular, began in the 20th century, the paintings rose in price at auctions, and collecting them became almost a fashion. Art societies and art dealers of the Netherlands and Belgium organized several small exhibitions of still lifes. The course for studying symbolic messages in still lifes, presented by Ingvar Bergström, is continued by Eddie de Jong, who emphasizes the diverse nature of symbolism in Dutch painting of the 17th century. Svetlana Alpers, on the contrary, criticizes the iconological method and presents the Dutch painting of that period as an example of visual culture. Norman Bryson’s view of Dutch still lifes is formed against the background of the development of a consumer society, economic prosperity and abundance. Finally, there has been an increasing interest in the natural science aspects of flower still-life painting in the researches of the last twenty years. Curiosity, skill, and admiration for nature are the impulses that can still be felt in the images of bouquets and fruits.

Russian Animalistic Art of the 20th Century as a Special Kind of Fine Art

This article aims at analyzing the genre features of the 20th century animalistic art as a special, original phenomenon of Russian artistic culture. There are highlighted the aspects that make up its content basis. The author considers the issues of human perception of an animal, attitude to it, the system of views on the world of flora and fauna, the methods of interpretation of animals and birds. Together, they form the specific characteristics of animalistic art, which appeared in their organized and integral form in the 20th century. The article is relevant because the relationship between human and nature is being more and more re-evaluated, which is why the ideological features and the system of views of the 20th century artists are getting increasingly important (in particular, in the historical and artistic aspect).Animalistic art, having become noticeable as a genre already in the 18th century, passed through the entire 19th century, and crystallized in the 20th century in the most characteristic, typical features in various types of fine arts (graphics, painting, sculpture and their varieties). There is no doubt that among other genres of fine art, animalistic art is an original visual and plastic phenomenon that is fundamentally different from the art that depicts a person. The article notes that the complexity of animalistic art lies in the properties of human perception, which is prone to subjective evaluation and, accordingly, gives an animal human traits. The principle of “imitation” of nature, the study of nature, being constantly followed by artists, pointed to the overcoming of the subjective moment and became the leading one in composing the figurative concept of an animal.

Did Dionysius of Fourna Follow the Material Recipes Described in His Own Treatise? A First Analytical Investigation of Four of His Panel Paintings

A research protocol based on imaging techniques and physicochemical analyses was designed and carried out in order to investigate the construction technology of four panel paintings produced by a very important 18th century artist, hieromonk Dionysius from Fourna. Dionysius was the first painter of the post-Byzantine period who wrote an artists’ manual for the Eastern Orthodox painting art: he recorded and described in his treatise ‘Hermeneia of Art Painting’ the materials and construction techniques of the 18th century Christian painting. The contribution of Dionysius and his ‘Hermeneia of the Painting Art’ is decisive because it gathers all the previously scattered advice and guidelines about the construction of panel paintings and the information quoted by him is probably the only official recorded source of Eastern Orthodox art technology. In this context, four panel paintings signed by Dionysius were selected for scientific research: it is the first time that an effort is made to analytically characterize the materials used by the hieromonk, to recognize the construction technology, and examine whether it follows the recipes included in his manuscript or not.

Artists and Writers for Two Centuries in the Cultural-Religious Context

The history of Georgian painting is closely connected with the name of the 19th century artist Giorgi (Grigol) Maisuradze, who went through the way of demonstrating his artistic talent, from the family of peasants to the Brulov Academy and later working as a teacher of art. Giorgi Maisuradze's paintings are preserved in various museums in Kutaisi, and his following biography with his family and descendants still creates an interesting cultural gallery where famous Georgian artists, writers and scientists are presented. The artist's works has been thoroughly studied by an art critic Shalva Kvaskhkadze, and the present issue is from the history of Georgian culture.

Review: How Photography Became Contemporary Art: Inside an Artistic Revolution from Pop to the Digital Age, by Andy Grundberg

Review: <i>How Photography Became Contemporary Art: Inside an Artistic Revolution from Pop to the Digital Age</i>, by Andy Grundberg

ANCIENT GREEK SCULPTURE IN THE 20TH CENTURY WESTERN ART

Ancient Greek art and culture had served as a significant guide for Western civilisation for centuries. Greek philosophy, literature and mythology as well as art and architecture had a major impact on artists especially in the periods of Renaissance and Neoclassicism. It is interesting to see that Ancient Greek sculpture has still been inspiring for the 20th century western painters, sculptors and performance artists. This article will focus on the visual representations of four statues -Apollo Belvedere, Venus of Milo, Nike of Samothrace and Sleeping Ariadne- in the imagination of artists working in various styles. Depictions of aforenamed statues and their novel and distinctive interpretations had been the subject of this descriptive research. 20th century creations have been scanned for traces of Ancient Greek sculpture. These timeless paragons of Classical and Hellenistic periods acquired a fresh life thanks to the 20th century art world’s admiration and respect for the Ancient Greek sculpture. It can be concluded that by juxtaposing classical and contemporary imagery, artists created memorable and engrossing works. Keywords: Ancient Greek Sculpture, 20th century, Western Art

Art therapeutic practices for coping with stress in the conditions of COVID 19

The connection between people and art for centuries has provided an opportunity to stabilize the psychological state, their personal development and well-being. Today, in the conditions of "new normal" art therapy is desirable and offers us opportunities to deal with the crisis, reveals internal horizons for self-development. Positive thoughts and feelings fill a person when is engaged in creative activity. The present study marks the beginning of a study related to the impact of art therapy practices on a people emotional state in conditions of social isolation.

Investigating Treasure Trove Chola Bronzes of Thiruvarur – A Study

This research paper probes the bronze images of Chola dynasty which ruled over Thiruvarur or Aaroor served as one of the five traditional capital towns. This town holds the symbol of rich culture of Chola’s hegemony. The Dravidan style of iconography reached its perfection under Cholas. The Metallurgy Art of India reached a pinnacle on of Chola bronzes. The Greenish patina bronze images of Aiyanar riding an elephant, Subramaniya with his consort, Thirugnanasambandar and Lord Ganesha which was created during the medieval period especially in the Thiruvarur had a highest regard of superiority in art for many centuries. These Bronze images were created using “Lost Wax Technique” which specifies that only one specimen of that particular image can be made by the sculptor, so the image is original and it cannot be remade as it is. The craftsmanship of the bronze images of Chola period attained maximum glory. These bronzes were found as treasure troves in Tiruvarur. The Scholar who was a former Curator of this Museum attempt to bring limelight of Iconic excellence of the beauty of these bronze images and the Conservation method adopted to preserve them for future generation.

Humanity and flow in Central-Asian digital art-history: the Astral Nomads model

Currently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, cultural actors are faced with the urgent problem of preserving humanitarian values using digital tools. The countries of Central Asia are laggingbehind the global process, which has introduced an imbalance in the digital presentation of world artistic heritage. The aim of this study and project is to organize an online art history of post-Soviet Asia in the complex context of human destinies, stories and facts, through the creation of an interactive book and website. During the research process, the author followed the cross-methodologies of critical analysis and digital archiving. That is, analytical constructs were founded and documented by archival materials and scientific sources through a hypertext system. In turn, the hypertext system has something in common with the philosophical concept of the "rhizome" – one of the key concepts of the philosophy of post-structuralism and post-modernism, introduced by J. Deleuze and F. Guattari. In the course of this research, materials of contemporary art from Central Asia were collected from the studios of artists, and an archiving system was developed in accordance with international standards. In 2013, the online resource astralnomads.net was developed and launched, which took its name from the unfinished novel by the artist Sergei Maslov Astral Nomads. The novel described the adventures of Kazakhstani artists on a spaceship in the future. The study asks questions about the timeliness and necessity of digital archiving of art collections. These processes are not just technical innovations here, but an indicator of the compliance of the country's cultural policy with the new humanitarian challenges of the era. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that, despite lagging behind global trends in archiving, the processes of digitalization of archives and art collections are gradually building up in the region. The study proposes a model of the Astral Nomads resource as a pilot project for the preservation of the heritage of art of the 20th-21st centuries.

Russian Animalier Art in the XVIII- XIX Centuries in the Context of European Schools: The Origins and Nature of Development

This study delves into the process of development of Russian animal art of the 18th-19th Centuries. The primary purpose of the research was to make a review of these two historical periods, which determined the typical features of the early and mature periods of development of animal art in Russia—the time of the birth and development of the genre. According to the author, genre issues are important, and talking about it is necessary to define the image of the animalistic nature in all its specificity. In addition, it is noted that researchers do not characterise the stage of early Animalism, which first appeared in the 18th Century, sufficiently. Nevertheless, this genre has demonstrated all the love of artists for the real perception of the natural world and their sincere will to create its truthful and reliable reflection in their works. This tendency is typical for Western European Art. At the same time, it has been explicitly expressed in the works of Russian animal artists. Compared with European Animal Art of the 17th-18th Centuries, Russian ‘Kunstkammer drawing’ and how the class of ‘animal and birds’ was organised looked like a real innovation. These two factors have contributed to the creation of a full-fledged animalistic image. The author underlines that the main principle of imitation of nature was at the basis of teaching in the Russian school. It eventually led to the formation of the genre with its complex, distinctive features. These unique features was observed in the animal art of the 19th Century, mainly in the form of hippique images.&#x0D; Nevertheless, there was an attempt to combine two separated historical periods— the 18th and 19th Centuries, which demonstrated different images, approaches (animal naturalia of the 18th Century and horse characters of the 19th Century). The author, here, tends to talk about Russian Animalism of the 19th Century, one of the most explored ones. Doing so underlines the importance of animal art of the two periods as a historically conditioned cultural phenomenon in the relationship between genres of Fine Art and trends of the time. The historical and artistic method made it possible to identify the connection between these two eras in which Animalism was expressed significantly. Its originality is that it combined two diverse eras into one national whole.&#x0D; Submitted: December 20, 2020; Revised: 12 February 2021; Accepted: 8 April 2021

"Academization" of the saxophone: genesis, main milestones and current trends

The leading research topic in this article is the analysis of the specifics of the development of saxophone art in a symphony orchestra. The chosen problem requires the study of this direction from the perspective of a broader socio-historical context, within which it is possible to identify special signs of musical culture, both in the general context and in individual genres. In this vein, the study of saxophone music in a symphony orchestra allows us to outline, firstly, the origins of the origin of interest and the introduction of a special instrument into the cultural panorama, secondly, to trace the ways and impulses of its spread, and thirdly, to find out the problems of the saxophone as part of a symphony orchestra. In order to fully understand its special place in the cultural continuum of a certain place and epoch, music for the saxophone should be considered not just as a specific artifact that has been embodied in creativity, performance, education, but as a multi-level and three-dimensional concept in the musical art of the XIX-XXI centuries. The disclosure of the role of the saxophone as part of a symphony orchestra in the article is not just carried out through the prism of the representation of a certain number of facts, names, events, and can be traced as the correspondence of the development of the instrument to those historical, political, socio-economic and, above all, cultural and artistic processes that have formed a kind of creative reinterpretation of one of the most popular modern instruments. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the genesis, development trends and the current state of saxophone art in general, as well as, in particular, in the composition of a symphony orchestra. In the study, the author focuses on iconic performers and teachers, whose personal achievements in the field of concert, research and musical and social activities had a significant impact on the formation of the saxophone as part of a symphony orchestra.

Раковины моллюсков в голландских натюрмортах XVII века

Dutch still-life is a distinctive cultural phenomenon of the 17th century. Collecting of rarities, curiosities, plants, paintings, sculptures and many other rare things was characteristic for that period. Seashells which were brought from the exotic countries attracted the attention and love of collectors and artists. J. Hoefnagel was one of the first who took an interest to seashells in the emblems. In the early Dutch flower still-life shells were found occasionally but from the beginning of the first quarter of the 17th century artists started to add these graceful creations almost into all compositions with flower bouquets and fruits. New type of still-life with seashells appeared abundantly in painting of Balthasar van der Ast, Jan Davidsz de Heеm, Abraham Beyeren, Willem Kalf and others. While the naturalism in still-life painting brought to the maximum, there was a problem of veracity in depicting shells in the engravings, for example, in Rembrandt’s work. This problem was eventually solved only in the second half of the 17th century, so engravings and zoological illustrations began to show the curl of the shells in its correct direction, exactly clockwise. This research poses problems of the appearance of shells as collectibles and Dutch still-life’ motifs, visual traditions and shells’ classification in the paintings. The article is relevant with interdisciplinary method; some mollusks zoological names with indication of their origin place are given; the cultural and historical context is generalized; the stylistic analysis takes into account the emblematics’ traditions.

Beginning of Typographic Installation and Contemporary Graphic Creativity

Beatrice Warde’s crystal goblet has changed the perception of typography and typographic expression in the print and online media since it was published. “Bear with me in this longwinded and fragrant metaphor; for you will find that almost all the virtues of the perfect wine-glass have a parallel in typography” (Warde,1956, p. 1). Since 1932, when Warde introduced type and typography as a ‘crystal goblet’, typography has evolved significantly, and probably in the fastest way with the contributions of technological improvements and printing technologies. Typography has proliferated in the early decades of the 20th century as an essential and highly visible aspect of modern art and design. It has also became a production practice in post-modern art in the middle of the 20th century and early 21st century. As it is known, text is not new to art and avant-garde and so is typography. With postmodernism, the usage of text, type and typography in post-modern art practices, contemporary artwork examples, design arts, installations and conceptual art movements blurred the boundaries between art and typograph. Especially artists and designers started to use typography in their personal expressions as a post-modern art strategy and, as a result, typography became a hybrid form to assess in 21st century art practices and also a raison d’être to convey idea, thought and message. In this paper, by using the descriptive method, I will focuse on the relationship between typographic installation and contemporary graphic creativity. In this regard, evaluating Beatrice Warde’s philosophy along with the samples of typographic installation of artists such as Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Stephen Doyle, Barbara Kruger etc. and a special museum Deportee Memorial Museum Carpi, will be helpful in order to compare the changes in the past and present approaches in typographic applications and it will be useful in order to understand today’s graphic creativity.

Музыкально-педагогические технологии воспитания культуры фортепианного исполнения-интонирования в контексте современной педагогики музыкального образования

The paper justifies the necessity to study musical-pedagogical technologies of forming the culture of piano performing-intoning as an essential component of modern musical pedagogy. The article describes innovative conceptions of music as a prosodic-meaningful art of the XX-XXI centuries, analyses musical-pedagogical technologies of forming the culture of piano performing-intoning. Scientific originality of the study involves systematization of scientific theoretical and methodological knowledge on the culture of piano performing-intoning. Analysing innovative conceptions of the XX-XXI centuries in the sphere of theory of intonation and culture of instrumental intoning, the authors conclude on the necessity to develop an educational program for students in the field of training 44.03.01 “Pedagogical Education” (profile “Music”). The paper also covers the following issues: choice of musical-pedagogical repertoire for future music teachers within the framework of the discipline “Musical-Instrumental Training”, development and approbation of pedagogical technologies to form the culture of piano performing-intoning as the key components of musical-educational process. The research findings are as follows: the authors develop a pedagogical model to form the culture of piano performing-intoning.

Light-driven continuous rotating M\xf6bius strip actuators

Twisted toroidal ribbons such as the one-sided Möbius strip have inspired scientists, engineers and artists for many centuries. A physical Möbius strip exhibits interesting mechanical properties deriving from a tendency to redistribute the torsional strain away from the twist region. This leads to the interesting possibility of building topological actuators with continuous deformations. Here we report on a series of corresponding bi-layered stripe actuators using a photothermally responsive liquid crystal elastomer as the fundamental polymeric material. Employing a special procedure, even Möbius strips with an odd number of twists can be fabricated exhibiting a seamless homeotropic and homogeneous morphology. Imposing a suitable contraction gradient under near-infrared light irradiation, these ribbons can realize continuous anticlockwise/clockwise in-situ rotation. Our work could pave the way for developing actuators and shape morphing materials that need not rely on switching between distinct states.

What cloud machines tell us about early modern emotions

While nineteenth century art critic John Ruskin laments that artists do not observe the skies and their clouds enough, seventeenth-century stage machinists were close to meteorologists in the precision they brought to cloud formations on stage. In French late seventeenth-century drama, clouds framed stages like a proscenium, they lowered and lifted heavenly or other flying bodies, abducted figures, served as vessels for lighting that gave beauty and depth to the stage, and hid all sorts of machinery that risked taking away from the set’s credibility, all with unprecedented meteorological precision. Moreover, given the human physiology that was tied to meteorological learning at this time, it is also important to consider the extent to which stage machinists understood the link between their machines and the human body and its psychology. Not only did the theatrical context of their machines generate a psychological moment, but the rigging, the springs, and the movements of the machine’s parts were large, mechanical recreations that imitated Cartesian passions of the soul. In this light, stage clouds may have been engineered, artisanal recreations of the external world of nature, but they were also a kind of live experiment that revealed the mechanisms of the inner world of human emotion. By exploring the possibility that stage engineers were not only natural philosophers but also Cartesian machine psychologists, this essay proposes an affective history of stage clouds in Andromède (1650), Cadmus et Hermione (1673), and Isis (1677).