Researchers used quantitative analysis to study artistic techniques associated with visual artwork spanning the last millennium. Quantitative analysis of art could lend insight into human cultural evolution. Higor Sigaki, Matjaž Perc, and Haroldo Ribeiro used a quantitative method borrowed from physics to analyze around 140,000 pieces of visual artwork, mostly paintings, created by more than 2,300 artists between 1031 and 2016. Based on spatial patterns in the artworks, the method hierarchically categorized the artworks on a scale of order/disorder and simplicity/complexity, and revealed a temporal evolution of the artworks that coincides with main art-historical periods. For instance, artworks created between the 9th and 17th centuries were, on average, more regular and ordered than artworks made between the 19th and mid-20th centuries. Artworks generated after 1950 were more regular and ordered than artwork from the two earlier periods, reflecting qualitative divisions in artistic style proposed by art historians, including those corresponding to Renaissance, Modern, and Contemporary art. According to the authors, the findings demonstrate the utility of quantitative metrics in assessing the evolution of artistic styles.
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Article #18-00083: "History of art paintings through the lens of entropy and complexity," by Higor Y. D. Sigaki, Matjaž Perc, and Haroldo V. Ribeiro.
MEDIA CONTACT: Matjaž Perc, University of Maribor, SLOVENIA; tel: +386 41 981460; e-mail: matjaz.perc@uni-mb.si
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences