Styles of calligraphy in Chinese ink painting: the relationship between text and visual image

The subject of the study is the calligraphic component of Chinese painting and its dependence on the composition of the image, particularly the motif chosen by the author, in historical dynamics. The object of the research is the interconnections between calligraphic text and Chinese ink painting, including their contemporary development. The author systematically and in detail examines the reasons and principles behind the choices made by Chinese artists of different eras regarding calligraphic styles in painting, from the perspective of artistic-creative, especially compositional relationships, and within the framework of the most popular genres and motifs. The work identifies two main directions of artistic-creative interpretation and the selection of plastic-representational techniques in traditional painting based on the works of several contemporary Chinese painters. The research methodology is based on the systematization and analysis of existing information regarding the history and theory in this field, as well as the study of themes and images that reveal interactions between calligraphic and artistic-representational compositions within works of various genres. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that it reveals a number of artistic-creative characteristics of Chinese painting influenced by calligraphy and its styles for the first time; it establishes the choice of the latter in painting images and motifs across different genres; and it clarifies the nature and compositional relationships between them. The main conclusions are that throughout the prolonged sociocultural development of Chinese art, various methods and styles of writing characters have been formed, which were used, among other things, to enrich the expressive forms of works in painting and aligned with the compositional structure and color scheme of these works, supporting the rhythmic structure in accordance with the artistic intentions of the authors. In contemporary painting, textual inserts and individual characters either enhance the emotional background of the work, serving as a complement to the image and referring the viewer to the traditions of the past, or they become a key element of the image, used by the artist to express their concept. In the latter case, the calligraphic text becomes the main element, subjugating the artistic-plastic components.