Type, style and characteristic of painting preferred by hotel insdustry in Malaysia / Khayril Anwar Khairudin

The development of modern painting in Malaysia, which started in the 1930s has also driven Malaysia's economic growth. We can see it through the presence of many private galleries that evolve every year. Additionally, the Institute of Higher Education, whether public or private, is also seen offering many programs specialising in visual arts where it also contributes to painting development. The arts and paintings are a million-ringgit industry in Malaysia. This is a positive aspect of driving the development of painting in Malaysia in the future. However, despite these positive developments, some issues are seen as threats that can hinder this effort. One of them is the current market for painting which cannot accommodate the number of new artists produced each year. As a result, many new artists are seen to have quit painting and changing direction to other professions, which is a massive loss to the development of an artist and creative industry in Malaysia. Therefore, an effort must be made in dealing with this issue. One of them is to explore new markets need for painting in Malaysia in terms of preferences. The study of market preferences is vital in discovering the target market. Based on the previous market study, Malaysia's hotel industry seemed to have great potential to be explored. Hotel is one of the major players in the art and creative industries. With its high-end ambient, artwork objects such as paintings are used as an aesthetical communicative strategy in inviting people to stay at their hotels. The arts and hotel industry provides a perfect example of how working with the arts creates profitable outcomes for both partners. Therefore, this study aims is to explore the relationship between human aesthetic perception on visual features extracted from paintings relating to preferences study. This research carried out a mixed-method approach by using an interview, structured observation and systematic data analysis. A total of 5 hotels with four and five-star rank selected, and a total of 120 paintings were collected and evaluated using a content analysis method. This objective is to identify the type, style and characteristics found in the paintings purchased by these hotels. The study found that abstract painting type and abstract painting style are the most popular types and painting styles among Malaysia's industrial hotels. Also, image, colour, shape, texture, composition and space are significant characteristics in the paintings purchased by the hotel. This study allows artists, educators and student to understand more clearly about the painting criteria desired by the hotel industry in Malaysia while contributing to the theoretical and methodological development in the painting itself. The results obtained from this study may assist the art industry, particularly the artist, art educators, a student in producing guidelines (painting) for the market need, particularly the hotel industry in Malaysia. The study will enhance strategic market planning, more efficient and target-oriented for the painting market in Malaysia.