Genre Painting Research Articles

Architectural Imaginaries in Chinese Jiehua

A review of Leqi Yu, Painting Architecture: Jiehua in Yuan China, 1271–1368, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2022, 216 pages, 54 halftones, 12 color plates. ISBN: 978-988-8754-23-6. Yu’s book on Yuan jiehua, a traditional Chinese painting genre centered on architectural subjects and tectonic structures, examines its relationship with real buildings, painters, and politics. This review highlights her discussions on architectural representations, focusing on her accounts of the degree of accuracy in pictorial depictions, utilization of modular systems by painters, and artistic techniques employed to achieve verisimilitude.

Symbolism of Fair Plots in Genre Painting of Peter Bruegel the Elder

The purpose of the article is to analyse the use of fair plots in the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, to reveal their symbolism in presenting the panorama of contemporary society. The methodology of the work consists in the application of such scientific research methods as: historical – when examining the artist's paintings in the context of the historical era in which he lived and worked; analytical, which made it possible to single out works with a fair plot from the artist's creative heritage; synthetic, thanks to which observations acquired through analysis became the basis for formulating a general conclusion; comparative art analysis is applied to reveal the specifics of Bruegel's genre painting depicting fairs. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the actualisation of the study of the work of the Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, which presents fair scenes that enabled the artist to comprehensively present the motley society of that time in an artistic manner specific to the artist. Conclusions. Pieter Bruegel the Elder's paintings are filled with hidden meaning, the depicted events are connected with history, contemporary politics, reflect the thoughts and ideas of the author, that is, they are symbolic. Bruegel is one of the founders of Dutch genre painting – a direction of fine art in which the painter's attention is devoted to ordinary, everyday, multifaceted life, in the centre of which are people. Using fair plots, the artist discovered new themes and images for art. With the help of fair scenes, Bruegel depicted a generalised picture of the life of society, recorded the traditions and daily life of his contemporaries. The artist's paintings are historical documents that make it possible to track the activities of his compatriots. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, thanks to his creative, innovative abilities, a keen sense of the urgent problems of his people, acquired many followers who copied his paintings, in particular from fair themes, developed his plots. For the artist, the fair plots became a conceptual basis that contributed to the comprehensive artistic reproduction of the national characteristics of the Dutch people, as well as a means of figuratively embodying his creative ideas. The fair theme of the paintings allowed the artist to depict the peculiarities of the modern multifaceted life and activities of the Dutch people, to demonstrate the transformational processes that took place among different layers of the population, to present his own vision of the panorama of the contemporary society, the miniature format of which was the fairs.

Judith Leyster’s A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel: An Intersectional Approach

In A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel, concerns about class, decorum, and civility intersected with contemporary dialogue about the distinction between humans and animals, specifically, how human children needed to be educated to be distinguished from the wild, uncivilized state of animals and peasants. Both animals held significance surrounding behaviors that separated the moral from the immoral; cats and eels were pets and food, and they were used in baiting pastimes: cat clubbing and eel pulling. Paired with the children, Leyster’s choice of animals raised multiple moral questions and allowed for multiple interpretations, making the work widely appealing and setting Leyster apart in a tight market for genre paintings. These layers of possible meanings continue to make the work compelling today and shed light on how visual culture reflected and reinforced human–animal and social class distinctions.

지등 문화상품 도안에서 조선후기 풍속화의 적용에 관한 연구

Korean culture is attracting attention both domestically and internationally as its international status has risen. Among them, genre painting in the late Joseon Dynasty can be said to be an important medium of Korean traditional culture that captures the lifestyle of ancient Korean society as a visual image, and it is of great significance to inherit and promote Korean traditional culture by using this genre painting as a design for geographical cultural products. This study seeks to explore new applications of genre painting in the late Joseon Dynasty to design geographical cultural products, expand its scope, and express Korean traditional culture in various ways. First, through literature research, the characteristics and artistic values of genre painting in the late Joseon Dynasty were analyzed, and the application status of cultural products based on the market was considered. Second, as a result of analyzing the application cases of genre painting in the late Joseon Dynasty in geographical cultural products, it was found that genre painting in the late Joseon Dynasty was emphasized only on specific holidays and places, so it was not fully utilized in cultural products such as everyday land, and the style appeared relatively simple. Finally, through case analysis and market survey results, an alternative to applying the genre painting in the late Joseon Dynasty to geographical products was suggested. This study aims to explore a new way to use folk paintings in late Joseon Dynasty cultural products by combining modern geodge materials and other design practice processes to provide new implications and methods for the convergence of traditional culture and modern cultural products, and to provide useful data for the succession and innovation of traditional culture.

Lawrence Alma-Tadema and the nineteenth-century 'periode eye': Classical sources for his Entrance of the theatre (1866) and An exedra (1869)

The Anglo-Dutch artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) is known for being one of the leading representatives of historical genre painting. His paintings are often set in antiquity that usually transmits a peaceful atmosphere, although they also regularly refer to classical sources that include critical messages. Two key works of Alma-Tadema’s Pompeian period are Entrance of the theatre (1866) and An exedra (1869). These works are paradigmatic of the artist’s in-depth knowledge of classical civilization. He seemed obsessed with the historical accuracy of his paintings, which can be partly explained by the fact that general education at the time was steeped in the classics, and the public’s appreciation of his paintings must have been directly related to what was taught at school. Through a detailed analysis in conjunction with contemporary critical reviews, the author intends to reconstruct the nineteenth-century perspective on Alma-Tadema’s work. The question is how his contemporaries may have viewed his paintings, and how the concept of the ‘period eye’, developed by Baxandall, can be of use. It turns out that, with access to these classical sources, Entrance of the theatre becomes a scathing critique of the vanity and conceit of the wealthy class. Alma-Tadema’s reference to Terence’s comedy Andria convincingly complements a social criticism depicted through a public scene at the entrance of the Small Theatre in Pompeii. Additionally, the inscriptions and monuments that were associated with the famous family of the Holconians in particular, and theatrical patronage in Pompeii in general, must have been of particular interest to Alma-Tadema. This also emerged in An exedra, a scene around a tomb at the Via dei Sepolcri in Pompeii. The result is an image that, beyond a casual daily image from antiquity, also aims to show social injustice through the lost gaze of the enslaved person. These paintings show how Lawrence Alma-Tadema was capable of making numerous references, by layering several meanings and suggestions taken from antiquity. They also constitute a clear example of how he used and combined all his knowledge of classical architecture and fashion available at the time, to elaborate a pictorial narrative that pointed to the core of historical reconstruction.

FHS-adapter: fine-grained hierarchical semantic adapter for Chinese landscape paintings generation

How to migrate text-to-image models based on pre-trained diffusion models to adapt them to domain generation tasks is a common problem. In particular, the generation task for Chinese landscape paintings with unique characteristics suffers from a scarcity of fine-grained contextual details specific to such artwork. Moreover, the use of substantial amounts of non-landscape painting data during pre-training predisposes the model to be swayed by alternative visual styles, thereby leading to generated images that inadvertently lack the distinctive traits inherent to Chinese paintings. In this paper, we propose a Fine-grained Hierarchical Semantic Adapter for Chinese landscape paintings generation, namely FHS-adapter. The method orchestrates the diffusion process in a batch-wise manner, leveraging external fine-grained multi-perspective information to guide it. It gradually diminishes the influence of other style images embedded in the pre-trained diffusion model, ultimately preserving a greater number of landscape painting elements. The encoder was also replaced with the Taiyi-CLIP encoder, which is adapted for Chinese. We propose T2ICLP, a multimodal dataset containing 10,000 high-quality image-text pairs of Chinese landscape paintings. Unlike previous datasets, this dataset extracts fine-grained textual information from four perspectives, including Meta, Description, Sentiment, Poem. We compared the proposed model with the mainstream diffusion-based T2I models. Through an anonymous user study, our FHS-adapter method performs well in simulating various aspects such as brushwork, e.g.‘Gou, Cun, Dian, Ran’ means hooking, texturing, dotting, and dyeing, compositional space, elemental proportions, and color usage of different painting genres and artists. Our dataset is available at https://github.com/T2ICLP/t2iclp.

Rediscovering Bruegel: Art and History in Michael Frayn’s Headlong

British playwright and novelist Michael Frayn’s 1999 novel Headlong centers on an art historian’s discovery of the lost sixth painting from the collection Months or Seasons that Flemish painter, Pieter Bruegel is believed to have painted in 1565. Throughout the novel, driven by a quest to authenticate and possess the painting, the protagonist Martin Clay is engrossed in a thoughtful and thorough examination of Bruegel’s art renowned for busy tableaus of peasants, harvesters, hunters engaged in daily and rural activities. From religious conflicts, biblical conventions to allegorical landscapes, labors of the months within the framework of changing seasons, Bruegel’s artistic milieu has been interpreted and elicited in diverse and opposite ways. For that reason, Clay’s speculations about the political, intellectual and symbolic history behind the painting are not only the substance of the book, but the lengthy and diligent research he takes on also provides historical backdrop of the Netherlands in early sixteenth century, a time of atrocity and oppression as a result of Spanish rule. In view of that, this study aims to examine and understand how Martin’s journey turns into a headlong venture carrying thematic elements found in Bruegel’s works delving into the complexities of human behavior. Frayn not only brings the missing masterpiece to life with relevant descriptions projecting Bruegel’s idiosyncratic style and legacy, he also explicates its iconography-iconology in a political, and art historical context showing affinity with the narrative and artistic traditions of Dutch genre paintings.

Summoning Songjŏng and Ch’ilgwang (Seven Madmen): The Message of the Togang Kim Family in Ch’ae Yongsin’s 1910 Ch’ilgwangdo

<i>Ch’ilgwang</i> (七狂, Seven Madmen) a group of seven individuals, including Kim Taerip, who sought refuge in nature following the significant political event, Kyech’uk Oksa (癸丑獄事), in 1613 during the reign of King Kwanghae. Of these seven, five were later joined by another five, who together embraced an ideal, tranquil lifestyle at a pavilion known as Songjŏng. This larger group came to be known collectively as <i>Sip’yŏn</i> (十賢, Ten Sages). Ch’ae Yongsin’s 1910 paintings, <i>Ch’ilgwangdo</i> (七狂圖, <i>Painting of the Seven Madmen</i>) and Songjŏng sip’yŏndo (松亭十賢圖, <i>Painting of the Ten Sages at Songjŏng</i>), feature these historical figures from centuries past set against the background of the early 20th century landscapes. <i>Ch’ilgwangdo</i> integrates the visual features of three painting genres, gathering painting (<i>kyehoedo</i>), portraiture, and estate painting (pyŏlsŏdo).</br>This paper examines the transmission of <i>Ch’ilgwangdo</i> up to the 18th century and brings to bear the role of visual imagery by analyzing an account by Yi Sanghyŏng’s sixth-generation descendant, who showcased the painting and explained his ancestor’s significant achievements. Post-the 19th century, the Togang Kim family initiated several projects to elevate their clan’s status in the T’aein region. These projects included multiple renovations of Songjŏng, construction of the Rear Songjŏng, and an ancestral shrine. Commissioning Ch’ae Yongsin, known for his detailed expressions and real scenery landscape paintings, was part of this effort to visualize the Seven Madmen. The placement of <i>Ch’ilgwang</i> figures within the broader landscape of Taein, including Songjŏng, in Ch’ae’s painting echoes a similar intent found in O Chunsŏn’s (1851~1931) <i>Yongjin chŏngsado</i> (湧珍精舍圖, <i>Painting of Yongjin Private Residence for Educating Students</i>) and <>i>Portrait of Ch’ae Myŏnmuk</i>, both of which portray the actual landscapes of his estates. This interplay of landscape and figure representation underscores the history and status of the Kim family, which has upheld its high renown and influence in the region for generations.

Searching for Chinese Song Dynasty fans related to cultural dimensions

This study examines the formation of fan culture in China during the Song Dynasty, focusing on the cultural expressions inherent in fan making. With the aim of exploring the fan culture of the Song Dynasty, qualitative research methods and descriptive analysis were employed. The cultural dimensions under investigation include connotations, beliefs, lifestyles, aesthetics, materials, and craftsmanship. To conduct this investigation, the researcher visited the Guangdong Provincial Museum and the Guangdong Provincial Arts and Crafts Mall, where a variety of fans were studied and analyzed for their design and usage patterns. The Song Dynasty in China integrated fan-making with the prevailing culture of the era. Through both practical function and distinctive design, the art adorning the fan faces showcased a wealth of calligraphy and painting from Song Dynasty culture. Over generations, this amalgamation evolved into a unique art form. During the Song Dynasty, fan culture thrived, with fan painting transcending mere decoration to become a distinct genre of painting and calligraphy. Artists of the period often utilized the fan's shape as a canvas, showcasing a diverse array of subjects and an exquisite artistic style. Both in design and production, fan makers of the Song Dynasty achieved remarkable levels of artistry. Fans were crafted from a variety of materials and in different shapes, including Paper Fans, KeSiTuan Fans, and Round Silk Fans, each exhibiting round, square, or hexagonal forms, respectively. The paintings and calligraphy adorning these fans were exceptionally refined, frequently executed by renowned artists such as Su Shi, Mi Fu, and Wen Tong, whose works adorned fan surfaces commonly. These artworks not only demonstrated the artists' skill but also reflected the aesthetic and cultural ethos of Song Dynasty society.

Study on decorative patterns in The Great Nuo Picture

The Great Nuo Picture《大傩图》collected by the Forbidden City in Beijing is a Song Dynasty genre painting, which depicts twelve people wearing strange costumes, wearing various hats, holding musical instruments or daily utensils, dancing and showing a joyful atmosphere. By interpreting the meaning of Nuo in various dynasties, it was determined that this was a Nuo opera activity that took place in the Jiangnan area during the Southern Song Dynasty. Based on the classification and research of the decorative patterns that appeared more frequently on the costumes of the characters in the painting, it was found that this may be a borrowed object from the painter. To express emotions, it expresses the expectation that the imperial court will regain its lost territory in the north as soon as possible. The painting not only has a strong atmosphere of the market, but also depicts exquisite and luxurious costumes. The fusion of two completely different artistic styles in the painting is obviously related to the special environment of the painters of the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy.

Petőfi Sándor és a hiteles kép

ThŠe history of Sándor Petőfi’s visual representations can be examined with the concept of the true image of Hans Belting which makes a connection between faith and picture: the existence of Christ is confirmed by portraits for Christian worshipers and pictures have their devotional function for Christian communities. ŠThere are many portraits and genre paintings made during Petőfi’s life, but thanks to his cult there were many pictures painted of him even after his death. It is known to posterity that his portrait was recorded in a daguerreotype in the 1840s, but its status in his cult is still uncertain, because it was only found in 1868 in the legacy of her wife Júlia Szendrey, meaning that his depictions right after his death were based above all on the painting tradition and the personal practice of remembrance. In the 1870’s, after the presentation of the daguerreotype to the larger public, there was a debate in the press about the true image of Petőfi, which shows a rivalry between artistic and technical portraits. In my paper, I review the changing relationship between Petőfi’s pictorial representations and the concept of the true image in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Мир старообрядчества в русском изобразительном искусстве XVIII – первой трети XX вв.

Basing on a review of about 300 works created in the 18th – first third of the 20th centuries, the study presents a chronological and genre-thematic panorama of the development of the Old Believer trend in Russian fine art. It includes portraits, architectural landscapes, historical, genre paintings, book illustrations and sketches of theatrical scenery. The portrait genre is represented by commissioned works depicting real personalities and portrait types reproducing collective images of a diverse Old Believer community. Architectural landscapes captured key Old Believers locations — Vygoleksinskoe community, Rogozhskoye and Preobrazhenskoye cemeteries in Moscow, Pustozersk, Kerzhenets, Karelian necropolises. Historical painters came to the attention of such events as the presentation of new books by Patriarch Nikon, the rejection of newly printed books by Solovetsky monks, a dispute about faith in the Faceted Chamber, and the persecution of Old Believers. A special place is occupied by the images of Boyaryna Morozova and Archpriest Avvakum. Genre painting reflects the way of life of the Old Believers and its connection with the religious picture of the world. Over the course of two centuries, there was a formation and development of interest in the Old Believer theme, which found expression in enriching the genre palette and increasing the number of authors. About 60 artists showed interest in the Old Believers. A special contribution was made by M. Mylnikov, F. Solntsev, V. Perov, S. Miloradovich, V. Surikov, M. Nesterov, F. Malyavin, I. Kulikov, I. Goryushkin-Sorokopudov, B. Kustodiev, V. Kuznetsov, V. Plotnikov. In graphic and pictorial works, Old Believers act as bearers of national culture, adherents of their native antiquity.

The Ural Wartime Poetry: Features of Vision

This article displays the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) poetry of the Urals. The researched material is limited by this time interval, which is being considered from two perspectives. Firstly, in relation to the general poetic patterns of that time literature it is shown that the regional poetry is united with the all-Union poetry both from the point of view of genre painting and stylistic features (the coexistence of romantic heroic and realistic writing). Secondly, the article analyses the art of the poets who appeared to be the representatives of the three different angles of the war — the frontline — the rear — the camp. The dimension / the place taken by the individual at the state of the war affects directly the originality of the poetic perception of the war in a direct way, that is clearly proved by that period artworks of M. Lvov, L. Tatianicheva and B. Ruchiev.

Pakistani Painters following a Certain Genre of Painting: Dr. Rahat Naveed Masud, Ali Azmat and Mughees Riaz

Pakistani Painters following a Certain Genre of Painting: Dr. Rahat Naveed Masud, Ali Azmat and Mughees Riaz

Historical Cossack Portrait in the Work of Natalia Pavlusenko

The purpose of the work is to explore the genre of the historical Cossack portrait in the work of contemporary Kyiv artist Natalia Pavlusenko. The methodology of the research consists in the application of the art method, biographical, research, as well as analytical, historical, descriptive, which together made it possible to achieve substantiated research results. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time the work of the contemporary Kyiv artist N. Pavlusenko is examined within the framework of the author's artistic project "Heroes of Cossack Ukraine". Conclusions. As a result of the conducted research, it was established that the work of N. Pavlusenko in the genre of historical Cossack portrait belongs to modern artistic phenomena and is a notable contribution to the development of the Ukrainian historical genre of painting. The series of the artist's works, united by the artistic project "Heroes of Cossack Ukraine", is a series of portraits of hetmans and atamans of the Cossack period in the author's performance with high professional skill. Each of the works is the author's interpretation of the image based on the study of a significant number of historical sources, which conveys not only the authenticity of the era, but is marked by a certain psychologism and character. The designated project of the historical Cossack portrait is a significant contribution to the popularisation of Ukrainian history and art, as well as the promotion of patriotism and national-cultural identity. Keywords: Natalia Pavlusenko, historical Cossack portrait, historical painting, picture, "Heroes of Cossack Ukraine" project, historical figures, Cossack hetmans.

Enlightenment Response: A Study of Rational Spirit in the Works of Jean-Honoré Fragonard

This paper utilizes Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s paintings, housed in collections across Europe and North America, as primary source material. Employing methods from art history, social art history, literary analysis, and intellectual history, the study aims to explore the connections between Fragonard’s artistic philosophy, the social context of 18th-century France, and the cultural trends of the time. The paper investigates Fragonard’s response to Enlightenment and rationality through his paintings. The results indicate that, situated in an era oscillating between Rococo and realistic styles, Fragonard’s works provide a glimpse into the social and cultural milieu of late 18th-century France. Driven by the spirit of reason, Fragonard created a series of landscapes and genre paintings. Simultaneously, his sensitivity to emotions rendered his works vivid and dynamic, embodying the collaborative interplay of sensibility and reason.

긍재(兢齋) 김득신(金得臣, 1754-1822)의 산수화 연구

Geungjae (兢齋) Kim Deuk-shin (金得臣, 1754-1822) is known as one of the three genre painters along with Kim Hong-do (金弘道, 1745-1806?) and Shin Yun-bok (申潤福, 1758-1817 afterwards) or only as a painter who had been largely influenced by Kim Hong-do. In fact, he was a 44-year veteran Dohwaseo painter who had participated in important national art projects. Aside from his famous genre paintings, his extraordinary talent in portraits, landscapes, birds and animals, and flowers and animals established him as one of the best painters during the period. Especially, his results in Nokchwijae (祿取才: the state examination for court painters) demonstrates his ability in landscape painting among other themes as well as how much recognition he received at the time; some of these works are currently available.
 Kim Deuk-shin’s landscape paintings carry two styles of landscape painting in Late Joseon Dynasty: literati landscape painting of the ideal and conceptual landscape and true-view landscape painting that painted mountains and rivers in Korea. This allows better understanding of his diverse works, as well as the variety of trends and transformations of the landscape painting in the Late Joseon Dynasty. In addition, compared to other themes such as genre, figure painting of Taoism and Buddhism, birds and animals, and flowers and animals that had been apparently influenced by Kim Hong-do’s style, his landscape painting has a different pattern due to being directly and indirectly influenced by a number of preceding painters including Jeong Seon (鄭敾, 1676-1759), Sim Sajeong (沈師正, 1707-1769), Kim Eung-hwan (金應煥, 1742?-1789), and Kim Hong-dothat were largely established in the area of landscape painting At the same time, it is also possible to observe the Gaeseong Kim family’s painting style from Kim Deuk-shin’s landscape paintings as they show association with those of his uncle Kim Eung-hwan, brother Kim Seok-shin (金碩臣, 1958-?) and Kim Ha-jong (金夏鍾, 1793-1875 afterwards). Kim Deuk-shin’s landscape painting style may have been passed on to Kim Seok-shinand Kim Ha-jong through secondary influence from Kim Eung-hwan, who was influenced by Jeong Seon and Sim Sajeong. Based on this, his landscape painting style appears to have had a significant influence on the establishment of the painting style within the Gaeseong Kim family and on later generations of court painters.

Artistic practices of Valery Hegamyan in the context of Ukrainian-Armenian intercultural ties

The purpose of the work is to investigate the artistic and stylistic practices of V. Hegemyan, which he applied in the process of creative activity in the context of the history of art of Armenia and Ukraine. Emphasis is placed on clarifying biographical facts about the artist and teacher. The research methodology consists in the application of general scientific and special research methods, in particular, analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, generalization and abstraction, semitic, descriptive, which collectively allowed to consider artistic practices in the work of the artist V. Hegamyan. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time the facts of the artist's creative biography were introduced into scientific circulation, which made it possible to reveal the intercultural influences of the environment of Ukrainian and Armenian cultures on the formation of V. Hegamyan's creative style. Conclusions. V. Hegamyan's creativity and teaching are frankly synthetic in nature. Both of his activities are based on classical traditions, but as a result are qualitatively new artistic phenomena. Hegamyan's artistic style is a kind of symbiosis of masterful realism and modernist principles of symbolism, expressionism, fauvism, and constructivism embodied in monumental techniques. V. Hegamyan's genre work is widely represented: from studies of classics, landscapes, still lifes, wonderful realistic and conventional portraits to huge genre paintings. There are strong ethnic motifs in the artist's work: both Armenian and Ukrainian, while the artist nevertheless operates with general aesthetic categories, finding his own symbolic and figurative meaning.
 Keywords: artistic practices, work of Valery Hegamyan, Armenian artists, painting, graphics, intercultural relations, Ukrainian art, artist-pedagogue.

REPRESENTATIONS OF STILL LIFE IN CHINESE PAINTING OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY: THE SHANGHAI SCHOOL

The purpose of the article is to determine the ways of formation of still life as a genre in the first half of the 20th century and the features of its conceptualization; highlighting the creative output of representatives of the Shanghai school in the field of depicting the objective world. A wide range of visual materials is considered, and a circle of representatives of the Shanghai school who participated in the development of still life as an independent genre of painting is identified. Wu Changshu and Qi Baishi are among the most significant creators of still life. Representative samples and leading approaches to the development of the figurative structure of still life, its understanding as a complete symbolic and artistically expressive composition, as a gift and expression of an individual creative principle are identified. The connection of the Shanghai still life with the previous tradition is shown, and the decisive influence of wenrenhua aesthetics is highlighted; the significance of Shanghai as an artistic center and a cosmopolitan environment for the development of the artistic process is pointed out. It is emphasized that the still life of the Shanghai school became a transitional link to the still life of the Western style. The cultural status of still life as a result of the activity of scientists determined its perception by Japanese artists, the representatives of the Nanga school and ensured its further spread in the art of China, Japan and Korea. The main approaches to the interpretation of pictorial motifs close to still life are determined. Traditional and modern aspects in the depiction of the objective world by representatives of the Shanghai school in the first half of the 20th century are identified. The practical significance of the research results lies in the possibility of their use in the development of the conceptual framework for educational courses, textbooks, as well as in artistic and museum practices.

Erskine Nicol and the representation of national and religious identities in nineteenth-century Ireland

Abstract This article investigates the visual representation of Irish Catholicism in mid-nineteenth century genre painting through a close analysis of St Patrick’s Day (1856), a picturesque genre painting by the Scottish artist Erskine Nicol. In doing so, it will explore why artists like Nicol, Frederic William Burton and others chose to equate Irish rural Catholicism with romantic ideas of nature and outdoor ‘primitive’ worship. This tradition of representation will be examined in the context of contemporary Catholic institutional expansion across Ireland following the removal of the legal disabilities known as the ‘penal laws’ in 1829, and the parallel emphasis on the church building as the location of worship, the sacraments, and Catholic devotional life. To date, scholars of Nicol’s oeuvre have tended to focus on Nicol’s representation of an Irish national ‘type’ or ‘character’. My reading of Nicol’s St Patrick’s Day, however, aims to extend the art historical investigation of the signification of the Irish stereotype in Victorian painting, and to examine Nicol’s painting within the interwoven frameworks of national identity and religious identity. This analysis of St Patrick’s Day is rooted in a consideration of both genre and historical context, facilitating new insights into ideas of ‘peasant’ or ‘primitive’ Catholicism as central to mid-Victorian representations of the Irish ‘national character’.