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This paper proposes a system for converting face photos into portraits with specific charcoal sketch-like style. NPR (non-photorealistic rendering) for converting real photo images into anime-style images have been studied. Its promising application is the creation of users' portraits on social networks for preventing leaks of personal information. An image-to-image transformation using GAN (Generative Adversarial Network), such as CycleGAN or Pix2Pix, is expected to be used for this goal. However, it is difficult to generate portraits with specific comic styles that satisfy two conditions at the same time: preserving photorealistic features and reproducing the comic styles. For example, replacing too many photorealistic features on the face with comic style will destroy users' identity, such as eyes shape. To solve this problem, the proposed system combines CycleGAN and Pix2Pix. CycleGAN is used to generate paired examples for Pix2Pix and Pix2Pix learns photo-to-comic transformation. To further emphasize a comic style, this paper also proposes two extensions, which divides face images into several parts such as hair and eye parts. The quality of generated images are evaluated with questionnaire by 50 answerers. The results show that the images generated by the proposed system are highly evaluated than the images generated by CycleGAN in terms of preserving the features in a photo and reproducing a comic style. Although the segmentation tend to collapse the generated images, it can reproduce a comic style effectively, especially on facial parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Professional social networking sites like LinkedIn have opened up immense opportunities for job seekers to manage their self-presentations online to create a favorable impression on others. The present study aimed to examine how presentation of jobseekers on LinkedIn was affected by their gender. It investigated gender differences on LinkedIn profiles on self-promotion, agency/communion-related self-descriptors, and emotional expressivity in portraits, among recent MBA graduates. The sample comprised of 669 LinkedIn users (337 men and 332 women), matched on current industry, MBA graduation year, institute, age, experience, and geographic location. Self-promotion metrics included length of ‘about’ section, number of skills, and number of awards and honors in the listed profiles. We also counted the number of agentic and communal words (Pietraszkiewicz et al. in Eur J Soc Psychol 49:871–887, 2018) listed in users’ personal summaries. Emotional expressivity measures included full smile, head-canting, and eye contact seen in portraits, as independently rated by 10 raters. Results using chi-square analysis demonstrated that men self-promoted more than women. Women’s portraits showed more head canting and smiling than men, although no difference was found on eye contact. Significant differences were found between men and women on the use of communion words, but not agentic words. Such differences in self-promotion, gendered language and emotional expressivity may place women at a disadvantage relative to men in seeking jobs. Interpretation of the findings and implications are discussed.

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In the twentieth century the appearance of a great number of innovative verbal and visual portraits, created by modernist writers and painters, haunted by questions of identity and human representability, was determined by the tangible shift in sociocultural ideas about selfhood and the manners of its construction. Analyzing the poetics of literary and pictorial portraits created by Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Cézanne, this paper focuses on the intermedial flexibility of this genre and investigates the strategies of destruction and deformation of traditional referential portrait conventions through the juxtaposition of mimetic and non-mimetic elements, the "still life" approach to portraiture, intertextual scaffolding, activation of genre memory, and the parodization of the concept of resemblance. It demonstrates that the indexical tracing of the individual's particular identity as a traditional function of portraiture is replaced in modernist portraiture by the fluid process of identity construction and erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professional social networking sites like LinkedIn have opened up immense opportunities for job seekers to manage their self-presentations online to create a favorable impression on others. The present study aimed to examine how presentation of jobseekers on LinkedIn was affected by their gender. It investigated gender differences on LinkedIn profiles on self-promotion, agency/communion-related self-descriptors, and emotional expressivity in portraits, among recent MBA graduates. The sample comprised of 669 LinkedIn users (337 men and 332 women), matched on current industry, MBA graduation year, institute, age, experience, and geographic location. Self-promotion metrics included length of 'about' section, number of skills, and number of awards and honors in the listed profiles. We also counted the number of agentic and communal words (Pietraszkiewicz et al. in Eur J Soc Psychol 49:871–887, 2018) listed in users' personal summaries. Emotional expressivity measures included full smile, head-canting, and eye contact seen in portraits, as independently rated by 10 raters. Results using chi-square analysis demonstrated that men self-promoted more than women. Women's portraits showed more head canting and smiling than men, although no difference was found on eye contact. Significant differences were found between men and women on the use of communion words, but not agentic words. Such differences in self-promotion, gendered language and emotional expressivity may place women at a disadvantage relative to men in seeking jobs. Interpretation of the findings and implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Should the theatrical fantasy of a statue coming to life involve an actor performing the role of a thing, or a prop taking the place of a human? Proceeding from contests between Hong Sheng 洪昇 (1645–1704) and acting troupes over the staging of the "Crying Statue" 哭像 (Kuxiang) scene in his dramatic masterpiece Palace of Lasting Life (Changsheng dian 長生殿), this article examines how the figure of the living icon became a focal point in broader struggles to conceptualize the relationship between theater and rituals of mourning. Actors staged this complicated scene as an "auspicious sacrifice" (jiji 吉祭), one that foregrounds the transcendence of love over lifeless matter. Hong, conversely, insists on the function of the scene as an "unpropitious rite" (xiongdian 凶奠), a solemn meditation on mortality and the collective expression of grief. By redirecting focus from the object to the space and social dynamics of mourning, Hong questions the drive to bestow on things a life that is not their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores three portraits of Bessie Head: a photograph by George Hallett, a painting by Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, and a sculpture by Claudette Schreuders. It argues that these portraits each symbolise Head to a certain degree: Hallett wanted to capture the Artist in Exile; Nkosi wanted to capture a Struggle Hero; and Schreuders wanted to capture a Fellow South African. This paper is interested in how all three of these artists--although to different ends and effects--each mythologise Bessie Head, and how this relates to a broader project of national mythology. In this way, this analysis hopes to contribute to a greater understanding of Bessie Head in the cultural imagination of South Africa. KEYWORDS Bessie Head, George Hallett, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Claudette Schreuders, national mythology, cultural imagination, Introduction I so hate myself to be pinned down. My mind is always leaping ahead. People sense this. They resent it. Their little bit of truth is enough. (Head qtd. [...]

This research aims to study and publish a group of Artefacts bearing the Portraits of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras. The pictures executed on artistic masterpieces are similar to the descriptions that we have received from historical sources about the appearance of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib or not.This study is based on a descriptive study of a group of applied Artefacts bearing the Portraits of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib and its human drawings and decorative and inscription elements. The descriptions of the historical sources, and the content of the most important writings on these artifacts.Research importance: study and publish a group of Artefacts bearing the Portraits of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras, and a statement whether these Portraits were similar to the descriptions we received from historical sources about the authority of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib or not.Analysis of the content of the inscriptions on the artifacts bearing the Portraits of Imam Ali and the extent of their connection to the Shiites.Research Methodology: Descriptive - Analytical – ComparativeThis study is based on the descriptive approach of the group of Artefacts bearing the Portraits of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib during the Qajar and Pahlavi eras, then analyzes the human drawings and written decorations of these masterpieces, and shows the extent to which these writings are related to the glorification of Imam Ali, and compare the image and appearance of Imam Ali bin Abi The executor demanded the artifacts from what came to us from the historical sources .

The article focuses on a portrait of the poet Eleanor Anne Porden, painted by Mary Ann Flaxman and was acquired by the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2022.

Copyright of Librosdelacorte.es is the property of Instituto Universitario "La Corte en Europa" - IULCE and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Ethiopia, the period from the late 16th and 17th Centuries has caused a controversy because some consider this period as Ethiopia's recovery from religious, civil conflicts as well as sectarian discord, while others including Kofi Darkwah (1975), define it as a continued descent prosses for the empire. In line with this disagreement, factual information can speak for itself in the course of this study. Emperor Susenyos (1572-1632 CE) was a strong supporter of Catholicism, yet his son, Fasilidas (1603-1667 CE) as his successor, reinstated Ethiopian miaphysite Orthodoxy. The establishment of Gondar as the permanent capital in 1636, is an event heralded by Henze (2000) as the onset of an Ethiopian Renaissance, particularly in artistic, architectural, and musical domains. After Fasilidas's demise, his son, Yohannes I reigned from 1632-67 CE. Yet, it was Fasilidas's grandson, Iyasu I the Great (r. 1682-1706 CE), who distinguished himself through extensive architectural projects, notably transforming Gondar into a captivating city. Iyasu I's assassination caused significant turmoil in Gondar, subsequently resulting in a gradual loss of political power. When Iyasu I's son, Bakaffa (r. 1721-1730 CE) ascended to the imperial throne, the arts - namely, chant (zema), poetry (qene), interpretation (tergum) and refinement of the court minstrels' music had already been supported and vigorously promoted. However, it was Bakaffa's wife and later widow, Mentewab (1706-1773 CE), who emerged as the pivotal figure in this Ethiopian "Renaissance". Additionally, the diverse styles of Ethiopian iconography sponsored by Mentewab, some adorned with elements reminiscent of the decorative style of the Rococo period, illustrate the queen's remarkable aesthetic standards. The research on Mentewab, also known as Welete Giyorgis, has been guided by portrayals in iconographies, chronicles, paintings, testimonials from church builders and castles, and indirectly by information provided in texts such as Kebre Negast, and Fetha Nagast. To this end, special attention has been drawn on Mentewab's legacy as the founder, protector, and patron of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Narga Selassie, renowned for its resplendent Qwara style that fused European, Islamic, and Indian elements while retaining strong Ethiopian traits. With special attention to the iconographic representations of Queen Mentewab as the ktetor of Narga Selassie Church, the study explores symbolic significances embedded within relevant creations and artistic styles. By contextualising them within their historical framework, this analysis explores Mentewab's influence on her contemporary politics, religion, art, and literature in Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the constitutive role of a set of key objects—portrait, puppet, and tree—in conceiving ideas of the boy actor's body in the plays of John Lyly. Drawing on materialist theory, the essay argues that across Campaspe, The Woman in the Moon, Endymion , and Love's Metamorphosis , these three objects provide a particularly generative point of reference for Lyly's explorations of the relationship between his authorial control, the body of the boy actor, and the material resources of his playhouse. As I read these three moments in which the child actor and prop interact to create an ambiguous, unfixed object-body, I think through how the potentially rebellious nature of Lyly's materialist stage might serve as a catalyst for his meditations on the particular conditions of his own early modern authorship and his acts of authorial creation more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its form, the term damnatio memoriae was never utilized in antiquity. It is invoked in relation to the Roman world to denote a series of intricate attacks on the memory of vanquished adversaries. This encompasses various public and political actions such as the obliteration of statues and monuments, as well as the effacing of inscriptions. Numerous literary instances, however, indicate that it served not merely as a means of annulment and oblivion, but as a tool for vilifying an enemy, ensuring they were remembered in the most negative light possible. In such a process, the individual's name becomes deeply entwined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of IBEROAMERICANA. América Latina - España - Portugal is the property of Vervuert Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A Cuban Portrait focuses on a series of portraits titled FACES , an ongoing project that the Cuban photographer Carlos Manuel Cárdenes began in 2007. Although his subjects are diverse, Cárdenes's primary elegiac aim is to visually testify to the vibrant, living presence of Cuban artists outside the island, thereby preserving a chapter in the island's cultural history that might otherwise be overlooked and forgotten. The FACES series collectively enlarges and highlights the complex presences and myriad experiences of Cuba's diasporic artists. In this sense, it serves, as Lewis Hines so aptly puts it, as "a human document that keeps the present and the future in touch with the past." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of the Nobel Prize on the visual economy of literary culture by analysing how photographic author portraits are used by the Nobel Foundation and the Swedish Academy to construct a visual pantheon of literary laureates. The photographic Nobel pantheon is here conceptualised as a transnational visual construction that has a unique symbolic function in demarcating, homogenising, and essentialising the global literary field. It is argued that the images, together with their use by the consecrating institutions, 'mythologise' the author persona as a timeless, supra-national essence rather than presenting the more accurate picture of an historically, nationally, and culturally specific and contingent conception of literature. In analysing the semiotic structures and functions, as well as aesthetic patterns of photographic author portraits in relation to implicit notions of authorship, the article thereby shines a critical light on institutional ideology and its relation to visual culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matthew Zipf Peter Hujar: Performance and Portraiture, at the Art Institute of Chicago, May 13, 2023–Oct 9, 2023. THEY FIT well here, shunted to the side, placed underground in the [...]