Speaker: Lei Yao
Title: Digital Analysis of Painting by Vincent van Gogh and Norval Morrisseau

Abstract:

Computerized analysis of paintings has recently gained interest. The
rapid technological advancements and the expanding interdisciplinary
collaboration present us a promising prospect of computer-assisted
painting analysis. In this talk, I will present our findings in two
painting analysis projects. Pictorial features are extracted for
paintings of Vincent van Gogh, his peer artists, Norval Morrisseau and
imitations. Analysis targeted at van Gogh and Morrisseau is based on
different approaches, i.e. characterization of brushstrokes for van
Gogh and curve elegance for Morrisseau. We find that van Gogh's
brushstroke style is uniquely rhythmic compared with his peers and
also differs over his career periods. Curve elegance can distinguish
authentic Morrisseau works from his imitations. These features are
inspired by knowledge from art historians and our own intuition.