Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Use Of Ai To Recreate And Repatriate Lost, Destroyed Or Stolen Paintings: The 1785 Parisian Salon Case Study, Charles E. O'Brien, James Hutson, Trent Olsen, Jay Ratican

Faculty Scholarship

This study investigates the efficacy of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of artwork restoration, focusing on lost, stolen, or destroyed artworks. Employing a dual approach that combines traditional manual restoration techniques with advanced generative AI tools, the research centers on a case study of the 1785 Parisian Salon. It specifically examines the reconstitution of Antoine François Callet's painting, Achilles Dragging the Body of Hector, unveiled alongside Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii. The study utilizes Easy Diffusion and Stable Diffusion 2.1 technologies for inpainting and colorization processes. These AI tools are employed in concert with manual restoration practices to …

Post-War Restitution In The Republic Of Croatia: Awareness Of The Komza And Reconciliation Of Moveable Property Through Public Sculpture, Anita Govic

Theses

This project is a public sculpture prototype focused on the need for post-war art restitution in the Republic of Croatia: it will have an impact by enhancing public knowledge of the KOMZA list, which offers legal proof for families to retrieve heirlooms taken during WWII and the wars of secession from Yugoslavia.

The sculpture design includes three pillars, two etched with the 1529 names from the KOMZA list and a third that will be progressively built, brick-by-brick, as artworks are restituted. The nature of viewers’ interaction includes access to QR codes that offer links to the KOMZA list, information about …

Political Propaganda In The Reredos Of Our Lady Of Light, Owen Keith Medina Loftus

Theses

This master's thesis explores the Reredos of Our Lady of Light, a stone monument situated as the focal point of a former military chapel known as La Castrense in Colonial Santa Fe, New Mexico. Crafted by Bernardo Miera y Pacheco in 1761, the reredos is analyzed as a multifaceted masterpiece that blends religious symbolism with propaganda messaging. Its central location in the capital and meticulous design make it a potent tool employed to shape perceptions, reinforce beliefs, and incite the viewer to take action in support of both the Roman Catholic faith and the ever-growing interests of the king and …

Shōjo, Kawaii, And Yōkai Iconographies In Chiho Aoshima's Strawberry Fields And How They Relate To Contemporary Gender Dynamics In Japan, Neo Sim Yee

Theses

This paper analyzes the shōjo, kawaii, and yōkai iconographies in Chiho Aoshima’s digital painting Strawberry Fields and examines how they relate to contemporary gender dynamics and anxieties in Japan. The painting bears the artist’s distinctive, characteristic style, which includes elements that are childlike and monstrous, cute and dark. The work, rich in layered context, simultaneously reminisces about the innocence and freedom of adolescence, and critiques the prominent the unequal, rigid, and highly restrictive gender roles dictated by the Japanese patriarchal system. The distinct two halves of Strawberry Fields depict the dichotomous vision of Japanese women—innocent and girly versus defiant and …

The Artistic Narratives Of Faith Ringgold: Depicting Race Relations And Social Justice In 1960s America, Nicole Hill

Theses

This thesis explores the works of artist and activist Faith Ringgold within the context of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. The Civil Rights era was a pivotal moment in American history, marked by racial segregation, violence, and discrimination against Black Americans. Against this backdrop, Ringgold's art emerged as a powerful tool for social critique and political activism. The thesis focuses on five of Ringgold's most significant works: Between Friends, The Civil Rights Triangle, The Flag is Bleeding, US Postage Stamp Commemorating the Advent of Black Power, and Die. These works span the period of the 1960s to …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of Virtual Reality Role-Playing In Debating Repatriation Of Artworks In Active Learning Art History Classes, James Hutson, Trent Olsen

Faculty Scholarship

This paper addresses the pressing issue of repatriation debates for artworks, heightened by notable instances like the return of the Benin Bronzes and discussions around the Elgin Marbles. Given the challenges in conducting effective classroom debates on such sensitive topics due to the pandemic, generational shifts in learning preferences, and increased student anxiety, this study identifies a gap in the integration of active learning strategies in a virtual setting. The primary aim of this research is to examine the efficacy of virtual reality role-playing games (VR-RPGs) in enhancing student engagement, immersion, presence, and learning outcomes within a virtual learning environment …

Addendum To Ap Art History Curriculum: Impressionism And Its Female Painters, Julie Short

Theses

This project seeks to add depth to Content Area 4 of the AP Art History Curriculum by supplementing the study of Impressionism as a whole, as well as including the study of the role of women artists in the movement and their contributions to Impressionism and Modern art in general. The goal is to provide students with greater historical context and formal analysis of major Impressionist works, as well as to expose students to the accomplishments of more female artists.

Reconsidering Fertility Imagery In The Murals Of Teotihuacan, Grace T.O. Ray

Theses

This thesis explores fertility imagery in the Tepantitla Paradise and Tetitla Goddess murals of ancient Teotihuacan in Mexico. In the beginning of the 1970s, these murals had been utilized as case studies in the assertion for the existence of a central female deity known as the Great Goddess, based on an abundance of fertility imagery within the scenes. Scholarship in the field has since discredited this theory, but the deity in the murals remains unidentified. In addition, the city does not offer surviving written texts to provide context for cosmological beliefs, only Teotihuacan’s vibrant material culture was left behind after …

The Implications Of Venus In The Interwar Oeuvre Of James Guy, Emily Cooper

Theses

American Social Surrealist James Guy was a Communist proletarian artist who created works of art that depicted the social inequities he witnessed and experienced during the Great Depression. As a working-class artist, Guy painted images of daily life with recognizable and accessible iconography that allowed his fellow manual laborers to relate to the depicted scene. Guy distorted commonplace experiences through the filter of Surrealism to create absurd, illogical, and nightmarish environments to critique contemporary society. Guy worked to spark the realization of the viewer that they were subjected to the same injustices as the figures in his paintings. In this …

The “Trans-Historical Community Of Women” And The Paintings Of Artemisia Gentileschi, Grace T. O. Ray

The Confluence

Though the term feminism did not yet exist, Artemisia Gentileschi’s embrace of the vital force of feminine strength is a distinctive component to her paintings. The woman painter’s life and art were affected by her sex, in a time when women were not only considered property but had to deal with the repercussions of an oppressive patriarchal society. From her youth onwards, Gentileschi witnessed women unjustly convicted and punished for crimes that had men committed, the law would have allowed them to walk free. Sadly, Artemisia was later privy to the misogynistic laws herself with the famous rape trial. It …

Monet In Bordighera, Valerio Volga

Theses

Claude Monet visited Bordighera, the coastal town on the Italian Riviera, in 1884. This paper argues how, in Bordighera, Monet pursued a more immersive experience with nature than ever before. Monet first visited Bordighera late in 1883 with Renoir; he then went back in 1884 for a second and last trip, this time on his own. He stayed almost three months and painted 38 canvases; this paper focuses on four canvases that help illustrate Monet's depiction of nature and its transition from wide open views to close-up views that convey an immersive experience. Monet began his painting sessions on bristling …

Finding The Circle In The Square: A Neoplatonic Interpretation Of Kazimir Malevich’S Black Square, Matthew Madison Rowe

Theses

This thesis explores the influence of Silver Age philosophers Vladimir Soloviev, Sergei Bulgakov, and Pavel Florensky on Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square. Malevich was among the first to apply Silver Age philosophy to abstract art, fully rejecting all objective representation in art. The thesis argues that Malevich’s Suprematism was the result of the fundamental antimony of the Russian religious worldview, which understands reality as both immanent and transcendent. This understanding of reality was not unique to Russia but was the result of historic influences, including the Neoplatonic and religious-humanist philosophy that was prevalent in Russian intellectual culture during this period. …

Curio-Stereo: A Vr Application For The Viewing Of Stereograph Cards, Paige Sandheinrich

Theses

This project discusses the historical significance of stereograph cards as a tool for constructing a shared visual culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States and the United Kingdom. Stereographs were widely popularized as an entertainment and educational tool, offering an immersive experience for the viewers. The stereoscopic nature of the images allowed the viewers to immerse themselves in a non-physical reality through visual stimulation, creating a haptic involvement that was unique to the medium. The project of creating a VR application to view stereographs is presented as a potential solution to the problem of …

A Critical Analysis Of Jeffrey Gibson’S Because Once You Enter My House, It Becomes Our House, A Queer Counter-Monument, Ryan Pagett

Theses

This thesis discusses Indigenous Queer artist Jeffrey Gibson’s active engagement with his queer identity in his work. Using the five aspects of a counter-monument as defined by Stevens, Franck, and Fazakerley’s Counter-monuments: the anti-monumental and the dialogic; using queer as both a form of identification; and using queer as a verbal strategy, this thesis argues that Gibson’s latest work, Because Once You Enter My House, It Becomes Our House is a “queer counter-monument.” Counter-monumentalism was a movement initially developed in Germany post-World War II in opposition to monumentalism as a system of oppression. Countermonumental work disengages from traditional monuments …