Computer algorithm recreates Van Gogh painting in one hour

Buying a painting is an expensive affair.

In a newly published research paper titled “A Neural Algorithm of Artistic Style”, scientists at the University of Tubingen in Germany describe how their deep neural network can create new artistic images when provided with a random photo and a painting to learn style from.

The researchers have been able to produce these quite impressive images in less than an hour, and hope, by optimizing their work, to deliver the images quicker in the future.

The paper features example images which borrow the style of Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, self-portrait artist Frida Kahlo, and The Scream painter Edvard Munch. In the days to come, as they further optimize the algorithm, they expect the processing speed to get faster.

The algorithm teaches the computer how to identify and separate the style and the content of images, so while the buildings and layout of the image stayed the same, the colors, lines and “local structures” changed to emulate the famous work of art that had been imputed into the system.

“The system uses neural representations to separate and recombine content and style of arbitrary images, providing a neural algorithm for the creation of artistic images”, the researchers wrote in their paper, Arxiv.

The algorithm forms a “convolutional neural network” (CNN) which, in lay terms, uses object recognition to recreate the foundation image (which can be anything) in the style of a piece of specific art.

The group says that the final goal of the study is to offer “a path forward to an algorithmic understanding of how humans create and perceive artistic imagery”.

There are some complications, however. For now though, the network can only imitate the designs and styles of others with no plans to attempt an original any time soon.