THE TEXTUAL MODE OF AUTUMNAL IMAGERY OF CLASSICAL CHINESE PAINTING FROM THE BOHDAN AND VARVARA KHANENKO NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART COLLECTION

Abstract

The article studies the semiotics of inscriptions on works of classical Chinese painting. The case study was performed on seven artworks from the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Art (herein the Khanenko Museum). To analyze the image-text relationship in classical Chinese painting the author applies the contemporary Western multimodality theory and the traditional Chinese criteria for evaluating an artwork regarding its harmonious combination of painting, poetry and calligraphy. Special attention is paid to the linguistic phenomena of polysemy and homophony, which often underlie the symbolism of Chinese art. Quotations from classical poetry on artworks analyzed regarding associations they evoke in audience based on their intellectual, emotional and sensory experiences. Extralinguistic factors, namely the influence of philosophy and religion on forming the Chinese artistic tradition and the history of the collection of Chinese art in the Khanenko Museum are also considered. The interpretation of extralinguistic factors and the application of various approaches to the analysis of works of Chinese classical painting allow concluding that in the works from the museum collection the text mode plays an important role in conveying the authors’ messages encoded in symbolism of images. The semantics of the image mode and text mode mutually complement, creating meanings more complex than the original meaning of the image that serves as an anchorage of the image-text system. The curator's translation and commentary overcomes cultural barriers and effectively engages the audience in interacting with the artworks. The semantics of classical Chinese painting verbalized as a curator’s narration transform into the textual mode. Museum programs for different audiences, in particular people with sensory impairments, have the potential to convey decoded meanings not only in the form of curatorial lectures, but also in more avantgarde modes of presentation.