Art History Research Articles

Digital and physical re-creation of ancient Chinese bells: new understandings and discoveries

Previous research has focused primarily on replicating bells that were expected to resemble the original closely in terms of material, size, shape, and tone. There has, however, been no effort to use original bells as templates from which to re-create or re-design new bells that deviate significantly in size, yet maintain the shape of the originals in order to address issues in the history of art and in the archeology of ancient China. Experimentation with ancient bells in this field remains largely untapped. This article proposes to re-create bells in enlarged and reduced sizes through casting, based on 3D-printed resin models that have been correspondingly scaled up and down, from a 3D model scanned from a 500 BCE bell that was excavated from Xinzheng in Henan province, China. The study seeks to answer a series of questions, including whether replication of bells was practiced in ancient times, how casters could predict the tones a bell would produce before casting, and how a set of bells used as a musical ensemble could have been developed over history.

British history at Tate Britain post-Brexit: Rich, white men and space invaders

In 2023, Tate Britain rehung its semi-permanent collections display as a revisionist history of Britain. This major curatorial project makes compelling storytelling. Its critically engaged approach opens British art and history to wider interpretations. At the same time, the display elevates rich, white men. Drawing on a range of theoretical literature from cultural studies, sociology and art history, this article considers how Tate Britain operationalises difference and hierarchy as a British inheritance post-Brexit. I argue that key areas early in the first section of the display, Historic and Early Modern British Art (1550 to 1930), augment a rich, white, male hegemony, against which ‘others’, people of colour, the working classes and (some) white women, are presented as what Nirmal Puwar calls ‘space invaders’. I explore how curatorial revisions and other display strategies – chronology, staging, portraiture and binaries – both disrupt and reinforce the hegemony. The article includes my drawings of key areas of the display, which guide my research.

The Lucerne Lion Monument of Bertel Thorvaldsen and ‘A Song of Liberty’ Poem of William Blake

The Purpose of the Study: Lucerne City, a canton of Switzerland, shelters the famous Lion Monument (the Lucerne Lion) which represents Swiss Guards’ who lost their lives while defending the Monarchy during The French Revolution. On the other hand, William Blake, who lived during the French Revolution period and wrote poems on the revolution, wrote the lines ‘Empire is no more! And now the lion and wolf shall cease’ in his poem ‘A Song of Liberty’. The main idea of this article is to expose the intuitive connection between the Lucerne Lion and the lion metaphor in William Blake’s verse. Method: The reference works of this article have consisted of art history, history, and literature. Historical information and visual materials, which are related to the topic of the article, were obtained from local researchers of Lucerne and official web pages of various facilities and museums in Switzerland, France, Italy, and Norway. Results: It is deduced that the Metaphorical expression of the lion theme in both the sculpture and the poem in the article by illuminating visual and written sources. Within this direction of these facts, an intertextuality is evaluated between the Lion Monument and the A Song of Liberty poem. Conclusion: The historical steps during the consisting of this sculpture express the collective formation stages of a monument from the perspective of art history. Individuals and mass facts have carried today the Lucerne Lion, an artifact of this collective memory. The Song of Liberty poem written by Willam Blake against the monarchy in the French Revolution matches the metaphoric content of Lucerne Lion. In the direction of these detections, these two works were reviewed in the historical, visual, and text contexts, thus the intuitional connection was exposed between them.

Landscape and Shadow: A Comparison of the View of Nature and Philosophy of Art in the Artworks of Fan Kuan and J. M. W. Turner

In Chinese and Western painting, respectively, there are apparent differences in the representation of the vision of nature and the philosophy of art, even though paintings carry nature as their theme in art history. The extent of these differences can be well understood by comparing works of different artists from diverse cultures. The case selected for analysis in this paper comprises the Chinese Northern Song period painter Fan Kuan and the British Romantic painter J. M. W. Turner. This paper compares and contrasts the two artists regarding their perceptions of nature and aesthetic systems. Various perspectives of nature can be explained by works like Fan Kuan's Travelers Among Mountains and Streams and William Turner's The Blizzard or Snowstorm. This paper uses a qualitative research approach to understand how the two painters depict their understanding of the topic through their creativity. Many of the works painted by Fan Kuan illustrate the Confucianistic notion of 'heaven-men unity', focusing on such aspects of nature as peacefulness and timelessness. On the other hand, Turner in his paintings responds to the relation of the age of romance to the force of light, the force of colours, Turner responds to this power of the age. The study findings reveal that though the two painters had a clear distinction based on their cultural origin, style, and thought on philosophical matters, both the painters had artistic interpretations of the natural world in their use of artistic forms.

Review: So Near and Yet So Far: Art History of Latvia I

Review: So Near and Yet So Far: Art History of Latvia I

Preliminary investigation of the painting technique of Thalia Flora-Karavia (1871–1960): The ‘Paris’ case study

The present paper delves into the artistic evolution of Thalia Flora-Karavia, a prominent Greek painter (1871–1960) studied for the first time, with a focus on her masterpiece 'Paris'. The unconventional choice of cardboard as a substrate material underscores Flora-Karavia's adaptability and innovative spirit. The absence of preparatory underdrawings aligns her technique with impressionist tendencies, emphasizing spontaneity.Analysis of the palette within 'Paris' reveals a careful selection of colors, predominantly grey tones, with key pigments such as Prussian blue, phthalocyanines, and lithopone. These choices, highlighted through advanced analytical methods (portable X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry, portable Raman spectroscopy, technical photography and Hyper Spectral Imaging), shed light on Flora-Karavia's deliberate and skilful manipulation of materials.It is particularly surprising that she continues to use pigments that had largely been replaced by newer options - ones that were less harmful, more efficient, and more stable. Notably, she omits titanium white from her palette, despite its widespread adoption by painters as a basic white pigment after its development in 1918. The absence of cadmium red and yellow also reveals her clear preference for certain pigments.The present study provides valuable information in the field of technical art history, shedding light on the materials and methods used in her work. This provides a deeper understanding of Flora-Karavia's artistic identity as depicted in her painting 'Paris'. Her adeptness at marrying innovative techniques with traditional elements shapes a distinctive oeuvre that invites further scholarly inquiry into her contextual influences and contributions to the understudied artistic landscape of Greece in the 20th century.

Chronic mastitis or breast cancer in The Charity by Francesco Salviati? An educational discussion

In the present communication, the painting La Carità (The Charity) by Francesco de Rossi, also known as Salviati (1510-1563), is examined from a multidisciplinary perspective, combining the following disciplines: human anatomy, palaeopathology and history of art. In the impossibility to establish a final diagnosis due to the artistic nature of the artwork, the anatomical alterations found on the iconographic representation are discussed in light of two alternative hypotheses, namely chronic mastitis or breast cancer. Once more the intersection between medicine and art can be found to be of excellent use both for increasing the ancient record of diseases and in an educational effort to train the eye of future physicians.

Recordações celtas e medievais na pintura de Graça Morais

The exceptional and vast plastic work of Graça Morais evokes conceptual and plastic universes linked to memory, Anthropology, and sacredness, among others. In this text, certain references will be established between Graça Morais’ drawing and painting and the History of Art, more specifically Celtic and Medieval art. From the masks and portraits to the pictorial compositions close to the Medieval illuminations, through works that recall Portuguese painting from the 15th century or the use of colors itself, it is possible to detect in Graça Morais’ production dialogues with works from past times, meaning that the work art is a permanent confrontation with creations, memories, space and time.

Фемінні образи у прозі Аркадія Любченка

This article is dedicated to the study of the feminine discourse in the literary works of Arkadii Liubchenko (1899–1945). It analyses the descriptive and expressive components of his texts that shape the author’s portrayal of female characters, highlighting both inherent and acquired traits that accentuate their essence, roles, and significance in art history as well as in the broader societal context. The study investigates the transformation of character, the factors and driving forces behind change through the lens of the inner "self," which influences the vision of personal, social, and national existence. Both formal and thematic levels of the works are examined to identify symbols, details, and subtextual accents that are crucial for the semantic reception of the texts.

Former passions and current concerns about African art, identity, and cultural heritage

This paper examines the current state of African art history and material culture and its changing directions since the 1970s when ethnographic fieldwork on historical art and ritual in the rural context was the norm. It points to the significant shift in interest during the last three decades from research and field study on historical arts to contemporary African creativity by artists at home and abroad. In addition, the paper discusses the more recent impact of social and political factors in the Euro-American world challenging the West’s hold on material treasures from Africa acquired during the colonial period and their long-standing Western interpretation and exposure. This focus on the past has set into motion restitution projects and provenance research of illegally acquired museum objects. Given the current divide between scholars of different origins, training, and perspectives, as well as the diverse viewpoints of Afrodescendants across the Western world, issues concerning research methods, provenance, and the return of African collections to their homelands pose many challenges that call for new transparent and collaborative approaches.

A Historical Perspective: A Case Study of The Night Revels of Han Xizai

This research focuses on the expressions and actions of Han Xizai, the protagonist of the famous painting The Night Revels of Han Xizai, from the details to the skills of the author, finding the aesthetic value behind them. The process of making comparison between Chinese court paintings and Western’s gives references to study the art history and cultural differences. The literature analysis method is used to find and read relevant information, helping this paper further dig out the subtle meanings of this painting. How the artist conveyed instructions to audiences and how it shows imparity towards other court paintings are conducive in this research; The ultimate goal of this study is to give a refined analysis and shed light on the informative story in the court painting. To achieve the objective, this paper will carry out comments from scholars and critics, as well as unique perspectives from the researcher’s own.

Authorial Narratives in the Work of Middle Eastern Directors

The purpose of the research is to identify relevant narratives in the work of directors-authors of Middle Eastern cinema and its functioning in the space of international film festivals. Research methodology. The analytical method was used to develop the topic, which is necessary for studying the art history and cultural aspects of the problem. The researcher used the techniques of systematisation and generalisation, which came in handy for arguing the originality of the phenomenon of film directing in Middle Eastern countries, its place in modern culture-creating processes, as well as the determination of objective regularities that characterise directing practices in the contemporary intercultural space. A cross-cultural method was also applied, which contributed to identifying the peculiarities of the presentation of films by Middle Eastern directors at international film festivals. The cultural approach determined the generalised socio-cultural orientation of the research on the cinematography of Middle Eastern countries. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the problem of intercultural cooperation in the production and distribution of films in Middle Eastern countries in the context of the functioning of international support programs became the subject of a particular study for the first time; the work of filmmakers whose films were created as international projects and presented at international film festivals is singled out and characterised; the practicality of using the systematic method in the study of new narratives of films of the Middle Eastern region is proven. Conclusions. Familiarisation with the materials presented in the article expands the arsenal of knowledge about the specifics of the content and distribution of films by Middle Eastern directors within the framework of intercultural projects. It enables their use in educational courses on the theory and history of culture, cinema and directing.

Research on the Integration of Traditional Elements and Modern Design in Visual Arts

With time, visual art has acquired rich and colorful traditional elements as a means of conveying emotions and values. The elements aren't just tools for artists to express their creativity, but also bridges that connect the past and the present. As part of preserving cultural heritage and meeting modern needs, modern design is often influenced by traditional art while pursuing simplicity and practicality. This study aims to evaluate how traditional elements in visual arts blend with modern design, and how this fusion is manifested in current design practices. Through in-depth analysis of historical art works and contemporary design cases, research shows that traditional elements can be organically combined with modern design techniques in terms of form, color, decoration, and materials, creating art pieces that have both historical emotions and a sense of the times. Besides reflecting aesthetic taste visually, it also meets the functional needs of modern life.

Economic models of the formation of audiovisual projects in the creative industries of Ukraine in conditions of increased turbulence

The purpose of the article is to understand the main economic models of the formation of audiovisual projects in the creative industries of Ukraine in conditions of increased turbulence. The object of the research is audiovisual projects in the creative industries of Ukraine in conditions of increased turbulence. The subject of the study is the main economic models of the formation of audiovisual projects in the creative industries of Ukraine in conditions of increased turbulence. The methodology. The research is based on the functional approach proposed by K. Gendron. The study is based on the considerations of the authors (A. Alforov and Z. Alforova) regarding the complex morphology of the modern audiovisual sphere, in which audiovisual projects are part of the actual audiovisual creative industry. The ideas of S. Cunningham, R. Florida and his colleagues, J. Hawkins, S. Galloway and S. Dunlop and others were also used. The results. 1. The following economic models of the formation of audiovisual projects in the creative industries of Ukraine can be distinguished: the model of state financing and formation of projects; model of independent financing; studio financing model; model of partnership agreements and joint ventures; subscription and digital distribution model; model of marketing and sponsorship agreements; 2. In Ukraine, it is currently extremely difficult to use only one economic model for the formation of an audiovisual project; 3. Each stage, from concept to post-delivery and promotion of the project to the market, requires the selection of one or more of these models. Ukraine managed to preserve and develop the achievements of digitalization for production in creative industries at a distance, strengthening of international assistance for the development of creative industries and promotion of creative products to the world market; 4. The current extraordinary turbulence in our country requires creative industries to diversify economic models in the formation of audiovisual projects. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that that several dominant economic models of the modern formation of audiovisual projects in Ukraine are understood not only in the economic, but also in the art history context, since today the creative industries of our country are being reformatted in conditions of increased turbulence and are looking for appropriate ways of preserving the national audiovisual industry. The practical significance lies in the fact that the economic aspect of the development of the Ukrainian audiovisual sphere is still ignored in the domestic specialized art history literature. The material of the article may be of interest to producers, industry managers, scientists and everyone involved in the development of audiovisual projects in our country.

General trends in the transformation of traditional spiritual art in the culture of Ukraine

The purpose of this article is to examine compre-hensive trends in the transformation of traditional spiritual art of Ukraine. Academic research of this issue will help to reveal the development trajectory of traditional spiritual art in Ukrainian culture. An academic resolution of the defined issue will help to reveal the developmental trajectory of traditional art in the context of the interconnection between the established traditions and innovative processes.The main methodological tool for the study of the mentioned problem consists of summarizing the experience of empirical and theoretical research on specific aspects of the development of traditional art in Ukraine.The result of the research presented in the article. This study outlines the main patterns in the transformations of traditional spiritual art among the population of Ukraine, spanning from ancient times to the present, in the context of the interconnection between tradition and innovative processes. Until the advent of the modern era, the most distinct artistic artifacts in the traditional spiritual culture of this region’s inhabitants conveyed the creators’ reflections on phenomena of the “higher” world through artistic forms. However, at each stage of the traditional spiritual art development, various challenges arose, prompting transformations. Notably, throughout the XX century, these changes accelerated significantly. Since the late 1920s, due to the impact of Bolshevik ideology on rural culture, its spiritual component also began gradually evolve, particularly in the eastern and central regions of our country, comparing to previous decades. Ukraine’s attainment of independence and the removal of ideological barriers imposed by the Soviet regime significantly expanded intercultural connections and partnerships between Ukrainian artists and their international counterparts. The beginning of the XXI century was marked, on the one hand, by the expansion and deepening of globalization processes, which lead to the unification of various aspects of social and cultural life and substantially contribute to crises surrounding national identity. In contrast, there has been a growing interest in the unique features of Ukrainian culture and an effort to adapt the traditions of national art to new conditions.The process of transformation is also examined within the system of art’s functioning, with a notable emphasis on the activation of its sacred and prestige-reputational functions.The scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of this publication lies in the attempt to present a comprehensive view of certain aspects of folk-art existence, highlighting the unity and interconnection of its traditional characte-ristics and innovations.The practical significance. The results of this study can be used in the educational process for teaching courses within the fields of cultural studies and art history.

Virtual choir as a kind of digital musical art

The relevance of the article. The so-called virtual choirs remain very common in modern musical creativity. Their activities are studied in modern science in many aspects: historical, technical, socio-psychological, musicological, etc. However, there is a debate about whether such a form of artistic activity can be considered a type of choral performance. The purpose of the study is to clarify whether the phenomenon of “virtual choir” belongs to choral or digital art. The methodology. Structural, functional and comparative analysis were used to analyze the specifics of the work of real and virtual choirs. The article also uses the results of statistical data obtained by other researchers on the psychophysiological impact of singing in real and virtual groups on the well-being of choristers. An analysis of surveys on other issues was also carried out. The results. It was defined that a virtual choir fundamentally differs from a real one in its structure, which, in addition to performers and a conductor, also includes sound engineers and editors. Even in their actual absence, these functions are extremely important and, in fact, replace the conductor’s activity, because the final result depends much more on the sound engineer and editor than on the conductor’s personality. It was found out that the specifics of the creative process in a virtual choir do not include a significant number of specifically choral elements, namely the ensemble component (except for coincidence with the phonogram), response to the real process and the possibility of influencing it during performance. In addition, singing in a virtual project slows down the development of empathy of singers, reduces their ability to recognize the conductor’s gestures and facial expressions. The scientific novelty. For the first time, a reasoned answer has been received to the question of the possibility of classifying the so-called virtual choir as a type of choral performance. The practical significance. The results of the study can be used in courses on the history of choral art, the theory of choral performance, and in the practical activities of conductors and sound engineers. Conclusions. The creative and methodological content of the work of a virtual choir has more differences than similarities with the work of a real collective. According to surveys, choristers evaluate the experience of co-creation in a virtual project more negatively than singing in a “live” choir. A virtual choir does not require many purely choral skills to achieve a result (ensemble, tuning, responding to the conductor’s gesture and singing by colleagues in the part), but requires significant technical knowledge and skills (video and audio recording, editing, correction, etc.). Thus, virtual choir as a phenomenon of modern art is not so much a type of choral performance as its simulation, carried out using digital methods, and should be studied in accordance with its belonging to one of the types of digital art.

“Lviv Interactive” and Exploring Artists’ Spaces on a Digital Map

The paper discusses the utilization of digital maps and an encyclopedia platform, hosted by the Center for Urban History in Lviv, to delve into the history of artistic milieus and practices within the spatial context of Lviv during the late 1980s. The digital project’s objective was to present the lives and artistic practices of alternative artists in Lviv through various mediums such as video walks, stories, digitized collections, analytical texts, and a digital map. By combining visual anthropology, art history, urban studies, and oral history through the Lviv Interactive platform and digital storytelling tools like ArcGIS and Storymaps, the project addressed the question: How did the city shape contemporary art in Lviv? The authors argue that integrating digital tools, web interfaces, and established academic concepts in our daily lives represents the emergence of digital history, a convergence that scholars employ to interpret our surroundings. However, the concept of a purely digital history may only materialize when our cognitive abilities are digitized, potentially merging with the domain of artificial intelligence rather than traditional analog historians. The experiences and uncertainties encountered during the City and Art on the Edge project further reinforced the notion of digital hermeneutics as an intermediary state, emphasizing the inherent tensions between the tangible analog world and the digital realm.

Scholarly Writing in the Face of Generative AI: A View from Art History

Scholarly Writing in the Face of Generative AI: A View from Art History

Traces of Turco-Persian influences in Malay woodcarving motifs on vernacular buildings in Terengganu

Woodcarving is considered as one of the highest forms of art in Malay culture. It is an essential aspect of traditional vernacular buildings in the archipelago region as it carries intrinsic meaning while symbolizing status. Despite this, the artistic influence apparent in Malay woodcarving is not fully understood in a holistic manner, in which the Turco-Persian elements are often neglected despite being visibly apparent. The reason for this is previous Malay art researchers are unfamiliar with Turco-Persian elements in Islamic art as compared to Buddha-Hindu elements which are more easily identified. Therefore, the art history method is adopted in this study to analyze the motifs used in vernacular palaces and houses of royalties dating from the 19th and 20th centuries CE in Terengganu. The objective is to identify the Turco-Persian influences and know the type, name, characteristics and stylization of the motifs to help better understand the formation of traditional Malay Islamic art in a comprehensive manner. This is achieved by analyzing and comparing the identified motifs within the context of Turco-Persian motifs used by Turkic dynasties in the Eastern Islamic lands that have a historical connection with the Terengganu region. Findings from the analysis discovered several Turco-Persian motifs in traditional Malay woodcarvings. Except for Muthanna, these motifs are the seven modes of abstract Islamic ornamentation known as haft aṣl that are commonly found in the Eastern Islamic lands on architecture and particularly in Qur’an illumination (tezhib). This indicates that the Turco-Persian tradition has a significant influence on the artistic formation and stylistic development of Malay woodcarving in Southeast Asia and not just Buddha-Hindu and Chinese elements as believed before.

The Summoning of the Muses: Transporting a History Class into the Studio

Teaching art history in a Department of Visual Communication (VC) can be challenging for any instructor. VC students tend to be very practically oriented, so engaging them in theoretical subjects requires that the instructor demonstrate the relevance of those subjects to their actual practice. An experimental second-year course titled “Mythological Narratives in Art and Design” introduced a practical approach to theory that made the subjects more appealing to VC students. It utilized the technical knowledge they had acquired in previous studio classes to interpret the theoretical subjects with a view toward creating their own artistic expressions. The course methodology relied on John Dewey’s theory of meaningful learning and Jürgen Habermas’s tri-dimensional conception of knowledge. In accord with Dewey’s usage of prior experience in the process of learning and Habermas’s technical, practical, and critical dimensions of knowledge, the students’ professional skills, acquired in four semesters of workshops and studio classes, were harnessed to approach the classical narratives and artworks. The students channeled their technical knowledge into practice, basing their final artistic project on their theoretical research and completing it using their professional skills. The current paper argues that this practical approach to the teaching of art history in schools of design is more effective, as it engages students’ attention, keeps them creative throughout the learning process, and makes the studies of humanities relevant and meaningful to their practice.