Real Paintings Research Articles

The detection of incamottatura through radiography: investigations on real cases and panel painting mock-ups

The historical techniques of panel painting manufacturing involve the preparation of boards to be used as painting support. The high affinity of wood for water can cause dimensional variations, deformations, and internal tensions. The application of a canvas over the boards, besides the choice and treatment of wood, is useful to minimize and guarantee the stability and preservation of the painting over time. The detection of the fabric is ensured with different imaging techniques, such as macro photography and radiography. The latter is mainly used to obtain information about the characteristics of the wood, the number of boards, the assembly system, and for the evaluation of the conservation state. The main advantage is the non-invasiveness of the analysis, which is a fast, simple, and widespread method. The limitations are related to different factors, such as the capacity of the materials to absorb the radiation. Despite canvas has a low radiopacity, in several cases it was possible its identification in the radiograph. This is important to investigate the technique of the artists. In our laboratory, we analyzed different panel paintings and while in some cases the fabric is easily detectable, in others it's not visible. Different variables can limit the observation of the canvas. This study is aimed at the comprehension of how acquisition parameters and painting characteristics can affect the detection of incamottatura through radiography.

EVOLUTION OF THE REALISTIC ARTISTIC AND AESTHETIC METHOD

This article delves into the evolution of the realist method, examining its interrelation with various artistic trends and currents. The impact of socio-political processes on the method's development is explored, emphasizing the dynamic nature of the artistic method and its continuous modifications in the expression of the author's ideas. The concept of 'realism' as a primary method in art is expounded, with an analysis of the perspectives of philosophers, art critics, and artists on its understanding throughout different epochs of cultural development. Characterizing features of realism are delineated, and a conceptual framework is presented, positing "realism" as a means of engaging with and comprehending spiritual and practical reality. The study establishes that realism serves as a conduit for unveiling the social and historical essence of humanity. Realistic painting, in particular, plays a pivotal role in transmitting the cultural code, illustrating the reciprocal interaction between individuals and their surrounding reality. This interaction contributes to a holistic representation of a specific historical period. The research paper encompasses a comprehensive examination of artistic methods, trends, and concepts, including romanticism, impressionism, symbolism, cubism, modernism, postmodernism, and metamodernism. The article underscores the significance of studying the evolution of realism in the visual arts and posits that the phenomenon in realistic art centers on the symbiotic relationship between individuals and their environment. In conclusion, the article asserts that realism not only unveils national traits but also communicates authentic facts that subsequently contribute to the shaping of historical mentality. The research interest in this exploration stems from a profound concern for understanding the nuanced evolution of realism in the visual arts.

Preliminary study of the formation of cracking and flaking phenomena on oil paintings on copper through the artificial aging of two miniature paintings

Fluctuations in environmental conditions appear to affect the conservation of paintings on copper and in this article we report the results of tests carried out using a simple experimental setup to confirm previous studies to show how temperature and RH (relative humidity) fluctuations influence the development of degradation phenomena affecting these paintings. The experiment was conducted on real miniature paintings and the results underline the impact that variations in RH can have on the preservation of oil paintings on copper. The contribution here aims to provide more data to enrich the available information on this topic and broaden the reflection on the risk factors for the conservation of this type of painting. The study also proposes a simple experimental setup with self-made climate chambers which can be useful to artificially test samples or materials for other studies in the conservation field.

The Aesthetic Value of Caravaggio’s Light and Shadow Technique from a Geometric Perspective

Abstract Caravaggio was an influential Italian painter of the 17th century who made important contributions to the development of later European art, both in terms of light and shadow techniques and in terms of ideas. This study first explores the characteristics of Caravaggio’s paintings and briefly explains Caravaggio’s painting style, light and shadow processing techniques, and their significant influence. Secondly, based on the visual perception art understanding method and aesthetic law, the curvelet geometric transformation is utilized to interpret the characteristics of different styles of Caravaggio’s light and shadow techniques in terms of three geometric features: multi-scale amplitude, coefficient distribution curve, and image non-smoothness. Finally, the aesthetic value of Caravaggio’s light and shadow techniques is interpreted from the geometric point of view by using six works from different periods: Caravaggio’s The Doubt of St. Thomas, The Supper at Emmaus, The Basket of Fruits, The Diviner, Narcasus and Judith Cutting down Hierophant as the research materials. The results show that Caravaggio’s light and shadow technique in the early stage of his creative career is characterized by a high low-scale coefficient and a low high-scaled coefficient, which indicates that there are more thick lines and fewer details. The maximum smoothness value of the works is 0.4035 respectively. The light and shadow technique in the later stage of his creative career is characterized by a low scale coefficient and a high scale coefficient, which means that he uses more fine lines to depict the details and less thick lines, reflecting the fact that the light and shadow technique in the later stage of his creative career is characterized by a low scale coefficient and a high high scale coefficient. Caravaggio’s light and shadow technique is characterized by a low scale factor, a high scale factor, and the use of fine lines to depict details and fewer thick lines, reflecting the light and shadow characteristics of Caravaggio’s light and shadow technique, which is depicted by the use of brushes and mineral pigments, and highly demonstrating the aesthetic value of his realist painting.

Великий – значительный – снова великий: как в советской культуре 1920–1960-х годов искали место В. В. Верещагину

Vasily Vereshchagin’s cultural reputation has been popularly viewed and scholarly treated as a narrow space between two dominant genres in his artistry – battle scenes and ethnographical (or even Orientalist) paint-ings. Since the 1950s, the former has prevailed, so the narrative formula khudozhnik-batalist (“the battle paint-er”) has become an obvious cliché to characterize Vereshchagin’s role in art history, especially within the con-text of 19th-century Russian realistic painting. Based on both archival and published sources, the article traces the academic, ideological and personal circumstances that led to the development of this discursive concept from the 1920s to the 1960s. It also shows how controversial the final evolution of this concept was when it became a stereotype during the years of late Stalinism. But making Vereshchagin “one of the greatest battle painters in the world art history” (as art historian Andrey K. Lebedev proclaimed in his fundamental monograph published in 1958) has also led to his recognition as one of the greatest Russian classic painters, which was rather more dis-putable. In the Soviet hierarchy of classic artists, Vereshchagin did not achieve high status until the late 1930s, due to his bourgeois background and colonialist implications of his work, found and then castigated by some Marxist critics. Nevertheless, he was perceived as close (sometimes confusingly) to the circle of Peredvizhniks, and was considered to share a common ideological and aesthetic program with them. Such ambivalence can be seen as a sign of Vereshchagin’s artistic marginality. However, we can argue that, due to the relation to the Peredvizhniki movement and his ideological and stylistic unity with it (as was scholarly established by A. K. Lebedev’s studies in the 1930s – the 1960s), Vereshchagin’s personality and heritage were given a long-awaited permission to claim a distinct place in Soviet culture.

A Machine Learning Paradigm for Studying Pictorial Realism: How Accurate are Constable's Clouds?

The British landscape painter John Constable is considered foundational for the Realist movement in 19th-century European painting. Constable's painted skies, in particular, were seen as remarkably accurate by his contemporaries, an impression shared by many viewers today. Yet, assessing the accuracy of realist paintings like Constable's is subjective or intuitive, even for professional art historians, making it difficult to say with certainty what set Constable's skies apart from those of his contemporaries. Our goal is to contribute to a more objective understanding of Constable's realism. We propose a new machine-learning-based paradigm for studying pictorial realism in an explainable way. Our framework assesses realism by measuring the similarity between clouds painted by artists noted for their skies, like Constable, and photographs of clouds. The experimental results of cloud classification show that Constable approximates more consistently than his contemporaries the formal features of actual clouds in his paintings. The study, as a novel interdisciplinary approach that combines computer vision and machine learning, meteorology, and art history, is a springboard for broader and deeper analyses of pictorial realism.

Monumentalism as an Essential Feature of V. Hegamyan's Work

The purpose of the work is to investigate monumentalism in V. Hegamyan’s artistic works as a characteristic feature of the artist's creative manner. The research methodology combines a set of such methods as analytical, semiotic, art history, biographical, which in the end made it possible to achieve objective research results. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the systematisation and generalisation of the artist V. Hegamyan’s work, in particular, the disclosure of the essential features of monumentalism as a defining feature of the majority of his works. Conclusions. The name of the Odesa artist V. Hegamyan, who was the founder of the graphic faculty of the Odesa pedagogical institute, is little known to the general public of researchers of Ukrainian fine art. It has been found that the peak of the artist's creative search and revelation falls in the 1960s and 1970s, when V. Hegamyan painted numerous works, combining elements of monumental style and traditions with the colour energy of modern painting, moving away from socialist realist (academic) painting and creating unrealistic images. The monumentality of his works was manifested in the fact that he experimented a lot and fruitfully with the form, which was always dynamic. Accordingly, with all the conventionality of the figures, V. Hegamyan achieved real similarity, verisimilitude and expressiveness, creating a semantic multi-layeredness and endowing them with symbolism and ambiguity. He constantly worked on improving the technique and created his own artistic style in art, which consisted of a combination of graphic, pictorial and monumental techniques. The deepest level is archetypal symbolism, which transcends the boundaries of cultural regions and eras. In this aspect, V. Hegamyan consistently avoids straight-line allegoricality: symbolic subtexts naturally emerge from the subjects of the paintings and the means of expression chosen by the artist. This is what makes his works multifaceted: additional meanings are superimposed on specific images. The peak of the artist's creative activity during the Soviet period coincides with the emergence and development of such an artistic phenomenon as nonconformism, to which V. Hegamyan, although he did not belong, became a symbolic figure for many artists of that time. Keywords: Velery Hegamyan, monumentalism, works of art, Odesa period of creativity, nonconformism, drawing, symbols, symbolism, artistic composition.

"Il monocolore non esiste": Postcolonial ekphrasis in Igiaba Scego's novel La linea del colore. Il grand tour di Lafanu Brown

Igiaba Scego’s novel La linea del colore. Il grand tour di Lafanu Brown (2020) is a historical novel, a feminist Bildungsroman, a contemporary migration novel and a global, political novel. It is also a novel of colours and images. The aim of this analysis is to investigate the function of ekphrasis – defined as verbal descriptions of visual representations – in La linea del colore. The question is how this literary device contributes to Scego’s pedagogical and political project of rewriting national history from the point of view of the subaltern, black Italians. Like in her other novels, Scego uses the past to illuminate the present. She relocates colonial memory at the centre of cultural debates in today’s Italy, deconstructing official colonial history. By analysing a small sample of ekphrases, regarding both real and imaginary statues and paintings in the novel, I would like to demonstrate that Scego adds new postcolonial interpretations to the described images. By doing so, she expresses ethical, ideological and poetological contents, aiming to convince her readers that the colour line between black and white people has to be overcome. Scego uses a classical literary device, the ekphrasis, to demonstrate that the line of colour is not only present today but also in Italian Renaissance and Baroque culture.

THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL EVENTS AND IDEOLOGY ON THE FORMATION OF THE PICTURE CONCEPT OF DUNHUANG CAVES FRESCOS

The article is devoted to an analysis of the figurative concepts of the Dunhuang cave wall paintings. It was determined that, despite the fact that the Dunhuang wall painting is an example of Buddhist art, it represents a syncretism of Buddhism and local beliefs—Taoism and Confucianism—which manifested itself in the depiction of characters from Buddhism and Taoism in one plot. Dunhuang cave murals are not uniform in style and execution techniques. Its genesis testifies that in the early stages it was a literal borrowing of the ancient Indian traditions of Buddhist mural painting; instead, there was a gradual layering of local painting techniques from the Central Plains of China. This led to the diversification of cave wall paintings of later periods and eventually led to the formation of a specific stylistic direction of "Chinese secular Buddhism," in which realistic painting plays an important role—the portrait genre of benefactors and the landscape genre of "mountains and waters."

Immunofluorescence microscopy for the characterization of paint binder in wall paintings: A two-step procedure of using anti-ovalbumin and anti-casein antibodies on the same micro sample

The aim of the study was to use immunofluorescence microscopy to identify two types of protein binders in 10 polished cross sections of micro samples, which were obtained from real and mock-up wall paintings. A two-step antibody hybridisation procedure was employed, in which the same micro samples were hybridised with anti-ovalbumin and subsequently with anti-casein antibodies and between the hybridisation steps, the sample's cross section was slightly re-polished and cleaned in order to remove all primary and secondary antibody remnants, which remained attached from the first hybridisation step (anti-ovalbumin). This allowed us to reduce the costs and operational difficulties, which are normally encountered, when antibodies, targeting two different proteins, are simultaneously mixed together. To reduce unspecific fluorescence, to amplify the fluorescence of the proteinaceous binders and to construct 3D surface topography models, apart from widefield fluorescence, laser-scanning confocal microscopy was performed. In parallel, FTIR spectroscopy analysis, of finding proteinaceous materials in micro sample cross sections, was also conducted. Results show that our two-step hybridisation procedure allowed for an accurate localisation of both types of proteinaceous binders without any interference from the first hybridisation step. Three micro samples proved positive for ovalbumin and one for casein and none of these proved positive for both analysed binder types. For eight micro samples, FTIR spectroscopy results completely matched those of immunofluorescence microscopy. According to our knowledge, this was the first immunofluorescence microscopy attempt of targeting two different types of proteins on the same cultural heritage micro sample.

Just an Illusion?

Just an Illusion?

‘Thingly’ forms in Guston Reloaded: Filipo Caramazza at Handel Street Projects

The paintings by Filippo Caramazza were made during years of protracted expectation of the major retrospective of paintings: Philip Guston Now. Delay was caused by significant debate between major receiving institutions as to their responsibilities when exposing provocative imagery to public view. Potential for misjudgement was a foremost concern in planning publications and installations. As if to manage a sense of deprivation, Caramazza imaginatively substitutes the real paintings, currently withheld, as postcard re-presentations, as if to mark their existence in absentia. The faithful painterly address to detail of image and technique suggest his reverence for the presence of the original works without attempting to replicate their powerful impression. The passive form of copying, a ‘humble address’ to the original paintings, stands in contrast with the authoritative nature of the institutional debate. Much of the concern with public reception of the paintings focused on issues raised by the contemporary ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and references to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) within Guston’s work. Effectively the museums decided to acknowledge but defuse problematic content. This article takes the view that the politics of Guston’s paintings address sociopolitical and personal issues generally, as well as formal painterly issues in contemporary American painting. Taking these ideas further, Caramazza’s paintings offer an opportunity to consider how museums shape critical and theoretical narratives in the construction of displays and a consideration of how painting may act as a critical witness.

James Wigley and the Strelley Mob: Social Realist Painting in an Aboriginal Community

ABSTRACT James Wigley has been historicised by Australian art scholars as a social realist, but the focus of his work through the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s differed from others who were a part of this art movement. During this time, he returned again and again to join the “strike mob” who had walked off pastoral stations in the Pilbara in 1946 and become independent by mining and purchasing their own pastoral properties. The organiser of the strikers, Don McLeod, invited Wigley to help the strikers with building boats to gather pearl shell, and later to run a printing press at the school in the new settlement of Strelley, on one of their pastoral leases. During his time with the strikes, Wigley drew and painted; he would send work to Melbourne and return there to exhibit work about the Pilbara and the people who lived there. He also illustrated the schoolbooks he was printing for the Strelley Literature Centre in the late 1970s. This article argues that this significant body of work places Wigley alongside other Australian artists who spent substantial time in remote Aboriginal communities, and whose experiences shaped their art.

Evaluation of abatement options to reduce formaldehyde emissions in vehicle assembly paint shops using the Life Cycle methodology

Recuperative thermal oxidizers, consisting of a single combustion chamber where volatile organic compounds are oxidized, and regenerative thermal oxidizers comprising several ceramic beds where the oxidation takes place, are the most common abatement technologies applied in vehicle paint shops to reduce formaldehyde emissions. In this work, a “cradle-to-grave” Life Cycle Assessment and an eco-efficiency analysis were carried out for a real paint shop to compare these two abatement technologies and identify the most environmentally sustainable option. The results show that the regenerative oxidizer leads to a decrease of the human toxicity impact category from 1329 kg 1,4-DB eq. in the initial situation without abatement to 1284 kg 1,4-DB eq., while an alternative with recuperative oxidizers achieves a significantly higher reduction to 1176 kg 1,4-DB eq. Considering the most relevant selected impact categories, the results demonstrate that the recuperative oxidizers cause a reduction from the initial situation of 2.6% of the normalized index, whereas the regenerative oxidizer implies a raise of 3.1%. This indicates that the installation of recuperative oxidizers is the most environmentally sustainable alternative from the two investigated technologies. Nevertheless, the eco-efficiency analysis confirms that the costs of the recuperative oxidizers option are 2.2 times higher.

Using ChatGPT for human-computer interaction research: a primer.

ChatGPT could serve as a tool for text analysis within the field of Human-Computer Interaction, though its validity requires investigation. This study applied ChatGPT to: (1) textbox questionnaire responses on nine augmented-reality interfaces, (2) interview data from participants who experienced these interfaces in a virtual simulator, and (3) transcribed think-aloud data of participants who viewed a real painting and its replica. Using a hierarchical approach, ChatGPT produced scores or summaries of text batches, which were then aggregated. Results showed that (1) ChatGPT generated sentiment scores of the interfaces that correlated extremely strongly (r > 0.99) with human rating scale outcomes and with a rule-based sentiment analysis method (criterion validity). Additionally, (2) by inputting automatically transcribed interviews to ChatGPT, it provided meaningful meta-summaries of the qualities of the interfaces (face validity). One meta-summary analysed in depth was found to have substantial but imperfect overlap with a content analysis conducted by an independent researcher (criterion validity). Finally, (3) ChatGPT's summary of the think-aloud data highlighted subtle differences between the real painting and the replica (face validity), a distinction corresponding with a keyword analysis (criterion validity). In conclusion, our research indicates that, with appropriate precautions, ChatGPT can be used as a valid tool for analysing text data.

Aktivitas Elo Pukek Di Pesisir Selatan Dalam Seni Lukis Realis

The purpose of this final work is to visualize the elo pukek activity in South Pesisir in realist painting. This is a form of the author's anxiety towards fishermen who participate in elo pukek activities who have less income in proportion to the hard work and risks faced, such as erratic waves, changing weather and sea animals that suddenly attack. The method of creation in the final work is carried out in stages, namely the preparation stage by searching for information, elaboration by analyzing the problem, synthesis setting the idea, realization of the concept by making realist paintings and the completion stage by conducting an exhibition. Ten paintings with a size of 100 cm x 100 cm with acrylic media on canvas based on the theme of "social phenomena" in accordance with the predetermined idea of elo pukek activities by South Pesisir fishermen were developed through ten work titles namely "starting", "hope", "compactness", "spirit", "tough", "unwinding", "results", "buying", "carefree", "sweat".

Reception of Soviet painting in the art of mainland China in the first half of the 20th century

The realist ideas and revolutionary concepts characteristic of Russian oil painting were of special significance for the development of art in China in the 20th century. In particular, in the 1950s, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party praised and promoted Russian and Soviet painting at the state level, which greatly contributed to the formation of the idea of realist painting and the scientific system of teaching oil painting in Chinese society. This paper examines the core values of socialism embodied in Russian oil painting and their derivatives; traces the development of oil painting in China; records the significant role of socialist features in the development of oil painting from different perspectives; and explains the influence of the Soviet art education system on the development of oil painting in China. This paper comprehensively examines the positive impact of Soviet painting on the development of Chinese art education, which contributed to the development of modern Chinese art in terms of artistic creativity, artistic organization and the construction of a system of art education.

Contribution of Affect and Cognition in Shaping Aesthetic Responses

The human experience of art is unique, being associated with exceptional and transcendent states of consciousness. These experiences are formed based on the interaction between the work of art itself, the observer, and the context. Using the multilevel modelling with crossed random effects analysis, we explored the connection between the affective and cognitive appraisals of a visual work of art and the aesthetic judgment. Two experiments were performed. In the first, lay persons appraised figural paintings with pleasant and unpleasant content. In the second experiment, abstract and realistic paintings were appraised. The results indicate a strong connection between affective appraisal and the aesthetic judgment, especially with the assessment of beauty. Cognitive appraisals are less closely connected to aesthetic appraisals. These results suggest that naive observers use everyday, practical perception when evaluating works of art, and that paintings which evoke "sweet", pleasant, hedonic emotions will be assessed as more aesthetically pleasing. The deviation of a painting from traditional art canons further strengthens the reliance on everyday perception in lay persons. The implications of these results are discussed.

Quantification of the degradation of paintings due to the deposition of atmospheric aerosols

Soiling of cultural heritage due to air pollution is a major challenge for the conservation community and it has motivated scientists to understand the mechanisms that govern the processes of degradation and the effectiveness of potential preventative measures. The relationship between perceptible optical degradation of paintings and cumulative exposure to particulate matter has so far not been well established. This study develops a method for the quantification of optical changes resulting from particulate mass deposition on the surface of realistic paintings simulating prolonged exposure in ambient conditions. For that purpose, a painting was exposed to diesel exhaust emissions simulating exposure equivalent to approximately 5 months in polluted atmospheric conditions. The color changes, assessed by a colorimetric technique, indicated detectable color changes under close observation by the end of the exposure. Similar results were obtained following the exposure of a blank canvas acting as a reference to omit potential color sensitivity to the measured optical changes. The experiments showed that exposing the canvases to levels of moderate ambient pollution results in perceptible color difference in less than a year, through a darkening and yellowing effect indicating the vulnerability of unprotected artwork.

Comparing Neural Style Transfer and Gradient-Based Algorithms in Brushstroke Rendering Tasks

Non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) with explicit brushstroke representation is essential for both high-grade imitating of artistic paintings and generating commands for artistically skilled robots. Some algorithms for this purpose have been recently developed based on simple heuristics, e.g., using an image gradient for driving brushstroke orientation. The notable drawback of such algorithms is the impossibility of automatic learning to reproduce an individual artist’s style. In contrast, popular neural style transfer (NST) algorithms are aimed at this goal by their design. The question arises: how good is the performance of neural style transfer methods in comparison with the heuristic approaches? To answer this question, we develop a novel method for experimentally quantifying brushstroke rendering algorithms. This method is based on correlation analysis applied to histograms of six brushstroke parameters: length, orientation, straightness, number of neighboring brushstrokes (NBS-NB), number of brushstrokes with similar orientations in the neighborhood (NBS-SO), and orientation standard deviation in the neighborhood (OSD-NB). This method numerically captures similarities and differences in the distributions of brushstroke parameters and allows comparison of two NPR algorithms. We perform an investigation of the brushstrokes generated by the heuristic algorithm and the NST algorithm. The results imply that while the neural style transfer and the heuristic algorithms give rather different parameter histograms, their capabilities of mimicking individual artistic manner are limited comparably. A direct comparison of NBS-NB histograms of brushstrokes generated by these algorithms and of brushstrokes extracted from a real painting confirms this finding.