STUCTURE-CHRONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF PAINTING TITLES

Abstract

In this article, we have conducted a structure-chronological characteristic of 398 titles of visual arts pieces from Chernivtsi Regional Art Museum and 213 onyms from T. Severniuk's "Letjuchyj prominj vichnosti… khudozhnyk Natalja Jarmoljchuk" (128 of which were in Russian).

During the analysis we have defined 4 groups of painting names based on the chronological principle:

1) 12th - 18th century onyms - 86 titles;

2) 19th - 20th century (until 1940) painting titles - 51 onym;

3) 20th century (from 1940) names - 136 titles;

4) Modern artonyms of early 21st century - 125 titles.

Within the above chronological groups, we sorted the titles by their structure, thus separating them into simple, complex, and compound onyms. Based on the calculations performed we discovered that compound onyms were more popular for titling artworks until the middle of the 20th century. One-word constructs in turn were used by artists beginning in the '40s of the 20th century. Modern artists prefer meaningful, short titles.

We also noticed painting titles of Bukovinian painter Natalia Yarmolchuk. Although her art (and, therefore, the painting names) belongs to the modern period, specifically to the late 20th century, her naming approach does not correspond with the overall tendency of the time. The artist prefers compound constructs, which include lots of rhetorical questions and exclamations. One distinctive feature of Natalia Yarmolchuk's onyms is the ellipsis at the end. Also she uses different literary devices, especially metaphor. In our view, these creative intentions stem from her poetic activity. Combining the two parts of the article together we can assert that artists lean towards different naming patterns in each given period of time. However, unusual occasions where an artist creates unique onyms for self-identification and to engage their audience should not be left disregarded.