The Mathematical Essence of Van Gogh

By analyzing 101 real and forged Van Gogh paintings, Cornell engineers have devised a set of mathematical signatures that can separate the real from the fake. It's the latest advance in stylometry, the process by which an artist's tendencies are quantified and turned into a defining formula.

While the specifics of stylometric analysis differ depending on the medium being examined, the basic strategy is similar across the board. First, the work of art in question is divided into components, which can be words, high and low tones, or different visual frequencies (the frequency of a still pond in a painting is distinct from that of a busy flower garden, for example). Next, each component is subjected to statistical tests that measure how they compare to components of authentic works created by the same artist. Mathematicians can plot the point that represents how the work performs on these tests in n-dimensional space, with n being the number of tests used. In his attempts to differentiate genuine Brueghel sketches from fakes, for instance, Mr. Rockmore measured 72 statistical features of each disputed sketch, such as the percentage of light and dark portions in a given visual frequency. [...]

Even as historians and academics acknowledge stylometry's validity, they sometimes express an almost visceral aversion to it. "Is it true that every artist has one clearly identifiable, characteristic style that can be picked up by this technology?" wonders Ellen Handy, an art historian at the City College of New York. "Can artists really be resolved to a single pattern?"

If only I could find someone to do this for my table napkin doodles.

Is that painting real? Ask a mathematician. [Christian Science Monitor]

Previous Wired coverage of stylometry here.
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Photograph: Jon Haynes*