Western Painting Research Articles

The Image of the Artist in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red and Irving Stone’s The Agony and Ecstasy

This paper examines the influence of Renaissance themes and techniques in art on miniaturist painting in Istanbul and on shaping Michelangelo’s attitude to sculptor and painting in Italy. The clash between Eastern and Western painting techniques is part of the conflict in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red. The novel is set in sixteenth-century Istanbul and the main characters are miniaturists who inherited the Persian style of painting. Istanbul people were very religious and the Muslim miniaturists felt unconfident and constantly tortured about their paintings. Artists were considered trying to imitate God and create their own perception of the world. The miniaturists of the novel are commissioned to adopt Venetian art with its emphasis on lifelike painting and individuality. Consequently they suffer of whether their creative work is considered blasphemous, or not. My Name is Red is juxtaposed to Irving Stone’s biographical novel The Agony and the Ecstasy. The novel is set in approximately the same time that the events took place in My Name is Red. It concerns the life and work of the Renaissance Florentine painter and sculptor Michelangelo. The study examines the cultural atmosphere that determined Michelangelo’s approach to art. It also addresses how religion has been the main source of inspiration for Michelangelo’s themes, and consequently it was the medium through which he presented his own version of man. Both novels are examined according to the relation of Renaissance humanism to art and religion.

The influence of Japanese Ukiyo-e on Western painting art in the 19th Century

Ukiyo had a profound influence on western painting in the 19th century. It can be seen from the works of Artists such as Monet and Van Gogh that they extensively used, imitated and improved Japanese Ukiyo techniques such as brushwork, composition and color. In addition, under the historical background and social environment at that time, the expression of thoughts and emotions was also greatly influenced by Ukiyo. This paper, starting from the origin and characteristics of Japanese Ukiyo, explains in detail the influence of Japanese Ukiyo-e on western painting in the 19th century, explores the way of expression of Impressionist and post-Impressionist works, analyzes the process of its absorption and re-innovation of Ukiyo-e, in order to provide some reference for modern painting creation. This paper explores the influence of Japanese Ukiyo on western painting in the 19th century in two chapters. First of all, from the origin of Japanese Ukiyo, style, techniques, representatives of the detailed interpretation of Japanese Ukiyo artistic characteristics; Secondly, based on the background of the introduction and integration of Ukiyo in western painting art, the paintings of Monet and Van Gogh, the representative painters of Impressionism and post-Impressionism, are extracted respectively, so as to explore the influence of Japanese Ukiyo on western painting art in the 19th century in terms of style, techniques and ideas.

Statistical image properties predict aesthetic ratings in abstract paintings created by neural style transfer.

Artificial intelligence has emerged as a powerful computational tool to create artworks. One application is Neural Style Transfer, which allows to transfer the style of one image, such as a painting, onto the content of another image, such as a photograph. In the present study, we ask how Neural Style Transfer affects objective image properties and how beholders perceive the novel (style-transferred) stimuli. In order to focus on the subjective perception of artistic style, we minimized the confounding effect of cognitive processing by eliminating all representational content from the input images. To this aim, we transferred the styles of 25 diverse abstract paintings onto 150 colored random-phase patterns with six different Fourier spectral slopes. This procedure resulted in 150 style-transferred stimuli. We then computed eight statistical image properties (complexity, self-similarity, edge-orientation entropy, variances of neural network features, and color statistics) for each image. In a rating study, we asked participants to evaluate the images along three aesthetic dimensions (Pleasing, Harmonious, and Interesting). Results demonstrate that not only objective image properties, but also subjective aesthetic preferences transferred from the original artworks onto the style-transferred images. The image properties of the style-transferred images explain 50 – 69% of the variance in the ratings. In the multidimensional space of statistical image properties, participants considered style-transferred images to be more Pleasing and Interesting if they were closer to a “sweet spot” where traditional Western paintings (JenAesthetics dataset) are represented. We conclude that NST is a useful tool to create novel artistic stimuli that preserve the image properties of the input style images. In the novel stimuli, we found a strong relationship between statistical image properties and subjective ratings, suggesting a prominent role of perceptual processing in the aesthetic evaluation of abstract images.

Ōbaku Zen portrait painting as part of the <i>chinzō</i> tradition of Buddhist art

The article examines the Ōbaku Zen portrait painting, which is an essential part of the cultural heritage of the sect, and its relation to the tradition of the Buddhist portrait called chinzō . The Ōbaku school, the third branch of Japanese Zen Buddhism after Rinzai and Sōtō, was established in Japan during the Tokugawa period (1603–1868) by Chinese immigrants. The art of the Ōbaku monks had a significant impact on the formation of the cultural image of the Tokugawa period, since the huge surge in its popularity led to the transformation of certain genres of art, in particular, painting, where so called “Chinese styles” appeared. An example of this transformation is the widespread distribution of the Ōbaku portraits, considered in the article. The article analyzes the Chinese origins of the Buddhist portrait genre, its traditional features that became key characteristics, as well as the development of chinzō in medieval Japan. Special attention is paid to the description of Ōbaku portraits as a unique genre and the analysis of the biographies of the sect’s most famous portrait painters. The article also addresses the inconsistencies between Ōbaku portraits and some stylistic and functional features of the chinzō tradition, the reasons for which lie in the influence of Western painting style and the need to produce a large number of images for the new temples of the sect. The author concludes that, despite the obvious differences (a clear emphasis on frontality, a special use of light and shadow borrowed from Western artists, a large number of works produced as opposed to uniqueness), the essence of Ōbaku Buddhist portraits corresponds to the chinzō tradition, which was intended to express a close relationship between a Zen master and his student, to confirm his achievement of enlightenment, and were also used as a substitute for a deceased monk during temple rituals. Ōbaku portraits continued to perform these key functions, which allows them to be considered a full-fledged part of the chinzō genre.

A Study of Contemporary (Modern) Painting in Herat. Case Study (Faculty of Fine Arts, Herat University)

Painting in Herat in the last two decades has achieved new achievements and approaches to the past traditions. These achievements were mostly in terms of form, color and technique, first influenced by modern Western painting, but then painters and students presented works with a combination of Eastern and Western painting based on the culture and traditional patterns of our society.The purpose of this study was to examine the contemporary (modern) painting within the framework of Herat College of Fine Arts, which can be important for students, artists and art lovers. In this research, two methods of library method and field method have been used. Authentic books and articles have been used in background. In field method, the data collection was based on observations and interviews with several professors of the Faculty of Fine Arts and pioneers of contemporary painting in Herat, which the result is summarized as follows. Contemporary painting was introduced to the audience academically for the first time by presenting the works of two painters from the Faculty of Fine Arts of Herat in an exhibition entitled Gardoun. By observing the pictures and interviews that were conducted, in the early days of its formation, contemporary painting was influenced by the Cubism style, but in recent years, contemporary painters have presented works with a new look and a combination of Eastern and Western art based on culture and civilization and indigenous environmental patterns of our country, which some unique methods can be seen in the works of a number of masters.Contemporary painting in the Faculty of Fine Arts of Herat began academically in 2009 and went through good stages and in the last decade found its place among students, but unfortunately by the change of government, some restrictions arose on the art of painting and establishing exhibitions which caused the lack of motivation of artists and students to art, and this process caused a number of artists and students to go abroad. What will be the future of art and the artist is a question that will be answered in the future.

Study of Calligraphic Brushwork in Singapore Watercolor Art

This paper investigates the development of Singapore watercolor art. Although watercolor is a western painting medium, Singapore watercolor art adopted its concepts from both the traditional British watercolor and Chinese ink painting. While it inherited its painting techniques from the British watercolor, the concept of calligraphic brushwork was adopted in two diverse directions, one from the British watercolor and the other from the Chinese calligraphy and ink painting due to the diverse backgrounds of artists. The application of various forms of calligraphic brushwork and their developments have shown connections to their origins. However, deviations were observed as compared to contemporary western watercolor brushwork. The study has also uncovered how the abstraction of Chinese character design concept and ink painting compositions were adopted by contemporary regional artists. The outcomes have created potential applications in animation and digital painting, especially in the area of visual simplification.

Study of Calligraphic Brushwork in Singapore Watercolor Art

This paper investigates the development of Singapore watercolor art. Although watercolor is a western painting medium, Singapore watercolor art adopted its concepts from both the traditional British watercolor and Chinese ink painting. While it inherited its painting techniques from the British watercolor, the concept of calligraphic brushwork was adopted in two diverse directions, one from the British watercolor and the other from the Chinese calligraphy and ink painting due to the diverse backgrounds of artists. The application of various forms of calligraphic brushwork and their developments have shown connections to their origins. However, deviations were observed as compared to contemporary western watercolor brushwork. The study has also uncovered how the abstraction of Chinese character design concept and ink painting compositions were adopted by contemporary regional artists. The outcomes have created potential applications in animation and digital painting, especially in the area of visual simplification.

Research on Color Application and Composition between Chinese Painting and Western Painting

Research on Color Application and Composition between Chinese Painting and Western Painting

Thawrah Des Odalisques at the Matisse Retrospective

Odalisques feature prominently in western paintings of the secluded harem especially at the height of such paintings' popularity in the colonial nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Lewis, 2004). When a painter draws an Oriental odalisque, he is sure to draw an artistically scopophilic object. While indulging himself in his sensual art, this same painter exercises his masculine power to exploit the body of the woman whom the odalisque now represents. Noticeably, the presence of a harem odalisque, be it a presence in writing or in visual art, recalls the seminal The Arabian Nights, the mecca of odalisques' lovers; and its enchanting harems and harem women, on top of them is the arch-odalisque Scheherazad. It is drawing on the heritage of The Arabian Nights and its plethora of Orientalist images that the Arab American poet Mohja Kahf (b. 1967) is inspired to entitle both her poetry collection E-mails from Scheherazad (2003) and the poem under scrutiny in this paper “Thawrah des Odalisques at the Matisse Retrospective” (Kahf, 2003, pp. 64-69). In drawing on that heritage, Kahf, a writer who belongs to a racial minority and is a feminist herself, uses the renowned odalisques painted by the French artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) as a mouthpiece that exposes the enduring Orientalist stereotypes and counterattacks them. Through Matisse's odalisques, Kahf narrates a story of how a past replete with misconceptions about the Orient and Oriental women continues to feed mainstream Western thought sabotaging the image of Arabs and Arab Americans (and the women among them in particular). It is in the heart of New York, one of the world's most modern cities, that those women-slaves of art inaugurate their revolution against the enduring stereotypes and liberate themselves.

The role of expertise and culture in visual art appreciation

Is art appreciation universal? Previous evidence suggests a general preference for representational art over abstract art, and a tendency to like art originating from one’s own culture more than another culture (an ingroup bias), modulated by art expertise. However, claims about universality are difficult given that most research has focused on Western populations. Across two pre-registered and statistically powered experiments, we explore the role of culture and art expertise in the aesthetic evaluation of Indian and Western paintings and dance depicting both abstract and representational content, by inviting expert and art-naïve Indian and Western participants to rate stimuli on beauty and liking. Results suggest an ingroup bias (for dance) and a preference for representational art (for paintings) exists, both modulated by art expertise. As predicted, the ingroup bias was present only in art-naïve participants, and the preference for representational art was lower in art experts, but this modulation was present only in Western participants. The current findings have two main implications: (1) they inform and constrain understanding of universality of aesthetic appreciation, cautioning against generalising models of empirical aesthetics to non-western populations and across art forms, (2) they highlight the importance of art experience as a medium to counter prejudices.

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Visual Thinking Strategy Between Persian Miniature and Classical Painting in Learning Medical Humanities from the Perspective of Medical Students

Background: Visual thinking strategy (VTS) is an interdisciplinary education that focuses on art. In this method, all students think about complex artistic elements. VTS uses visual literacy to teach communication skills and thinking. Objectives: This study aims to compare the educational effectiveness of Persian pictures with classical painting, which leads to teaching the concepts of medical humanities using medical students’ perspective. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study, medical students of clinical course (trainees and interns, 4th - 7th year of medicine) in the second semester of the 2021 academic year attended a VTS discussion session, which contained thinking about three paintings, including a classical western painting, a Safavid era miniature, and a contemporary painting. At the end of the session, an opinion poll on the effectiveness criteria was completed by the students separately for each painting, and the results were analyzed. Results: According to the findings, our intervention improved visual and auditory sensitivity, accuracy and attention, interaction and cooperation with others, teamwork, and an understanding of their share in the group. In addition, from the perspective of contemporary miniature students, this field played a prominent role in reducing job exhaustion, anxiety, and stress, and created a sense of calm and aesthetics in students by applying topics and issues of the day and paying attention to socio-cultural issues. Classical western painting conveyed a sense of calm and discomfort to the students. Based on the results of interpretive content analysis, this kind of painting had a profound effect on the meaning transmission so that it exposed the comprehensive views on the subject to the viewer’s sight. Given that the Safavid miniature contains various symbols that express the details of the social context and cultural traditions related to human beings, it conveys a variety of senses. On the other hand, the use of classical painting and contemporary Persian painting in VTS discussions in medical education was more prominent than the Safavid era miniature. Conclusions: Miniature can have helpful effects on improving medical professional skills similar to classical painting in VTS topics.

A Comparison between Chinese and Western Paintings

This paper attempts to explore the differences between Chinese and Western paintings by comparing the artworks of different painters. Through the analysis of a series of elements, such as color, composition, and painting tools, of specific works, this paper reveals the differences in the ideological connotations of eastern and western paintings.

A Comparison of Watercolor Painting and Boneless Painting: From Technique to Connotation

Watercolor painting is a western painting method, which is concerned with the relationships of light and shadow as well as brightness and darkness. Chinese painting includes brush painting and ink painting; there is a special painting method that is known as “boneless painting.” This technique involves painting directly with color without outlining, and it is between brush painting and freehand brushwork. Both, boneless painting and watercolor painting are rich in color expression, and their techniques have many similarities in expressing the relationship between man and nature as well as the inner feelings of the painter. Watercolor painting was introduced to China from the West at the end of the 19th century, and it soon became a popular type of painting. The technique of brush painting in boneless painting has a history of several thousand years, from the Warring States period to the Song Dynasty. It pursues the shape of modeling and focuses on realism. Boneless painting, on the other hand, is mainly concerned with flowers and birds, between brush painting and painting with a sense of style, without outlining, directly painting flowers and leaves with colors or ink. They are both painted with brushes on paper, and they use water as a medium to mix pigments. The wet and dry intensity of watercolor painting as well as the interplay of ink and colors in Chinese painting have both developed their own unique charms. The two different types of painting represent the cultural epitomes of two different nationalities. In contemporary times, the techniques of watercolor painting and Chinese painting can be learned from each other. This paper explores the different connotations and expressions of boneless painting and watercolor painting through the combing of watercolor and Chinese painting techniques.

Mutual Knowledge of Chinese and Western Paintings

Mutual Knowledge of Chinese and Western Paintings

Study on the development of Chinese oil painting color language under the fusion of Chinese and Western painting

Color is not only the linguistic element of human perception of the world, but also the starting point of artistic perception and artistic analysis. As an important part of art language, it together with modeling language constitutes the indispensable core language of visual art, which not only affects the artistic expression of the whole creation, but also affects the artist's spiritual world. Due to the development of different cultural systems in China and the West, there are also some differences in color language systems, mainly in its own color language characteristics and usage. Since the 20th century, the color language in Chinese painting has shown the tendency to learn from Western art, which has also led to the fusion of color concepts of Chinese and Western painting to some extent. In this process, whether Western painters or Chinese painters, the attention and research on the color system of Western oil painting occupy the main part of painting theory. However, despite many achievements, Chinese painters' study of the localization of oil painting color is still difficult to carry out. Therefore, the development of Chinese oil painting color language needs to be re-examined and positioned.

ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЯ КИТАЙСКОЙ ЖИВОПИСИ В СТИЛЕ СЕ-И

The core of Chinese painting in the Xieyi style is to convey an idea in a free form, Xieyi paintings have the beauty of poetry, calligraphy and prints. It uses a colour method based on black and white imagery and the concept of linear modelling with brush and ink. It differs from Western painting in its methods of perspective, which transcend the limitations of time and space. The spirit of Xieyi is a reflection of real life, but refined and sublimated through imagination, ultimately completing the process of creating artistic images. Having great innovative and creative force and inheriting the tradition of Chinese culture and art, Xieyi condenses the inner ideological characters of Chinese nation. Moreover, Xieyi is a unique form of free emotional expression stimulating the continuous development and advancement of the art of Chinese landscape painting. The artistic characteristics of Chinese Xieyi landscape painting are unique and embody the oriental aesthetic thought and Chinese philosophy. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are the spiritual basis that shape and nurture the artistic features of Chinese painting, at the same time, the XXth century European painting also influenced them.

Meaningful Places: Landscape Photographers in the Nineteenth-Century American West

The early history of photography in America coincided with the Euro-American settlement of the West. This thoughtful book argues that the rich history of western photography cannot be understood by focusing solely on the handful of well-known photographers whose work has come to define the era. Art historian Rachel Sailor points out that most photographers in the West were engaged in producing images for their local communities. These pictures didn't just entertain the settlers but gave them a way to understand their new home. Photographs could help the settlers adjust to their new circumstances by recording the development of a place--revealing domestication, alteration, and improvement. The book explores the cultural complexity of regional landscape photography, western places, and local sociopolitical concerns. Photographic imagery, like western paintings from the same era, enabled Euro-Americans to see the new landscape through their own cultural lenses, shaping the idea of the frontier for the people who lived there.

The creativity of the artist gu wenda in the dialogue of the traditions of western european and chinese painting

The creativity of the artist gu wenda in the dialogue of the traditions of western european and chinese painting

The history of the classification of chinese painting and the emergence of the concept of western painting

The history of the classification of chinese painting and the emergence of the concept of western painting

Learning of art style using AI and its evaluation based on psychological experiments

Generative adversarial networks (GANs) are AI technology that can achieve transformation between two image sets. Using GANs, the authors carried out a comparison among several artwork sets with four art styles: Western figurative painting set, Western abstract painting set, Chinese figurative painting set, and abstract image set created by one of the authors. The transformation from a flower photo set to each of these image sets was carried out using GAN, and four image sets, for which their original artworks and art genres were anonymised, were obtained. A psychological experiment was conducted by asking subjects to fill in questionnaires. By analysing the results, the authors found that abstract paintings and figurative paintings are judged to be different and also figurative paintings in the West and East were thought to be similar. These results show that AI can work as an analysis tool to investigate differences among artworks and art genres.