University of Silesia in Katowice

Looking for similarities

| Author: Olimpia Orządała |

It has long been known that children imitate their parents. Even when learning to write, children will try to imitate their immediate family. This generates challenges that specialists performing handwriting assessments must face. Interestingly, one may also observe similarities in handwriting of partners or spouses. Olivia Rybak-Karkosz, PhD from the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Silesia in Katowice, winner of the 3rd edition of the ‘Freedom of Research’ call for proposals of the Research Excellence Initiative, undertook to investigate family similarities of graphisms in painting signatures.

The aim of the project carried out by the researcher from the University of Silesia was to confirm the validity of conducting research on family similarities of graphisms.

“This is one of the identification problems encountered by handwriting experts”, says the scientist. “It may lead to various errors and to the conclusion that the author of a given signature is not the person who could actually left it.”

Olivia Rybak-Karkosz, PhD | Photo by Małgorzata Dymowska

Family similarities of graphisms in handwriting were studied by the late Prof. Tadeusz Widła, outstanding specialist in the field of signatures, employee of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Silesia. O. Rybak-Karkosz, PhD decided to use the methodology developed by Prof. Widła in the analysis of painting signatures. As part of the project, the scientist investigated the similarities between the signatures of two painters—Jacek and Rafał Malczewski, i.e. father and son. In the future, she would like to examine whether similarities in graphisms also occur in the collateral line between siblings, as well as in the case of affinity between artist spouses.

“I am not only a lawyer, but also an art historian”, emphasises O. Rybak-Karkosz, PhD. “In addition to conducting forensic tests, I wanted to analyse the relationship between the Malczewskis. It is pretty well documented as  they were both artists. The relation between them would sometimes tighten, sometimes loosen. I thought this might be interesting information in the context of older children imitating their parents’ handwriting.”

The researcher chose the works of the Malczewskis for analysis because the resources of Polish museums include many of their works, the attribution of which is beyond doubt. “We once had a case of a painter who very rarely signed his works. This meant that we could not draw any categorical conclusions because there was too little comparative material”, says the lawyer.

According to the scientist, the problems that occur in handwriting can be translated into the problems of painting signatures. In research on the similarities of graphisms, it is necessary to determine the features that are identical between given people and exclude them as having less persuasive power. This will reduce the risk of making an identification error.

An example of drawing a set of ki signs by Jacek Malczewski | Photo by Olivia Rybak-Karkosz

An example of a lower positioning of the minuscule a in relation to the capital M by Jacek Malczewski | Photo by Olivia Rybak-Karkosz

“My goal is to create a catalogue of identical features to confirm the validity of the study”, says O. Rybak-Karkosz, PhD. “We know that among painters there are cases where family members signed the works of other relatives. For example, Andrzej Wróblewski’s mother signed his works after her son’s death, just as Wanda Chełmońska signed the works of her brother Józef.” However, the researcher focuses on people who are artists because they are much better at using a different than the standard writing tool, i.e. a brush.

The same graphic-comparative method is used in the study of both handwriting and painting signatures.

“Of course, you need to take into account various factors that may affect the image of a letter”, emphasises O. Rybak-Karkosz, PhD. “For example, the use of a different writing tool. Normally, when signing something, we use a pen of some sort, but artists use things like a brush.”

Differences also result from the use of paint, which may have different density and slow down the dynamics of drawing the signature. The type of brush used also makes an impact—depending on the preferences of a given painter, it may be stiffer or softer. The writing position is also important—the artist often signs while standing, not sitting. One also needs to take into account the inclination of the painting on the easel, as it creates a different angle than a piece of paper placed on the desk. The surface on which the artist paints their name is also important, with vital factors including roughness of canvas or board.

Video comparator | Photo by Małgorzata Dymowska

The graphic-comparative method examines individual groups of graphism features: synthetic, motor, modelling, topographic and graphometric.

“In Malczewskis’ signatures, similarities appear in all groups of features. For example, you can see clerkly hand in both artists’ handwriting”, explains the researcher.

In the case of synthetic features, one of the examined aspects is the impulse related to the frequency of detaching the writing tool from the writing surface. In both artists discussed, the tool is detached after writing part of the letter. Modelling features are related to the way the letter is drawn. O. Rybak-Karkosz, PhD noticed similarities in letter bonds and in the drawing of the letter a. In turn, in topographic features, i.e. the arrangement of the writing surface, it can be seen that both studied artists situate the lowercase letter (minuscule) a lower relative to the capital letter (majuscle) M. Graphometric features are measured with special equipment, e.g. a video comparator set. In this way, one can determine, among others: the size of the letters, the width of the letter in relation to the entire word, the proportions between individual letters, angular sizes or the inclination of the letter to the base line. The scientist from the University of Silesia also noticed similarities in these features when researching the artists.

“The video comparator allows us to view materials in different lighting”, explains the lawyer. “We can see the entire painting under this device. This allows us to check whether there are any repaints or scratches in the place of the signature.”

Rybak-Karkosz, PhD focused only on the similarities of the artists’ signatures, not their differences. However, she mentions the way of signing among the differences.

“When starting comparative research, one needs to know the author’s writing habits. In the case of artists, this is interesting because they sign their works in various ways, e.g. with a monogram or their full name and surname. Jacek Malczewski signed his paintings in several ways: very often as J. Malczewski, sometimes with his full name and surname or a monogram. His son, on the other hand, always signed his works as Rafał Malczewski”, explains the researcher.

In the case of a similar handwriting, experts may have trouble distinguishing who the signature belongs to. To avoid this, the best solution is to conduct as much comparative research as possible in order to create methodology of a similar handwriting research.

“This methodology aims to determine the differences between the signatures and then transfer this analysis to the questioned graphism and check which person could have been the author of the signature. However, we are not always able to clearly eliminate a given person, especially among family members”, explains the scientist.

Article ‘Looking for similarities’ was published in the November issue of the University of Silesia Magazine No. 2 (322).