Chapter 2 Part 2 / Principles of Composition

Principles of Composition-Balance

-Rhythm

-Proportion and Scale

-Emphasis

-Unity and Variety

Balance Balance

Leonardo Da VinciThe Last Supper

Fresco 1495-1498

A wall of the Refectory, Santa Mariadelle Grazie, Milan, Italy

Balance symmetrical

Angkor WatCentral Temple Complex c. 1113 - 1150 CE

Cambodia

Balance symmetrical

Balance Asymmetrical

Joan MiróThe Birth of the World 1925

Oil on canvas

MarisolThe Family

Painted wood & other materials in 3 sections 1962

Balance Asymmetrical

Mark RothkoBlue, Orange, Red

Oil on canvas 1961

Balance Asymmetrical

Rhythm

... . . . . . . . . . . . . …

Churning of the Ocean of MilkCarved stone Angkor Wat, Cambodic 1113 - 1150 CE

Rythm

Magdalena AbakanowiczBacks 1976-1982

Burlap and glue 80 pieces

Rhythm

Islamic Mosque in Cordoba, Spain

Rhythm

Proportion and Scale

Michelangelo Buonarroti

David , 150413’ high

Proportion

Venus of WillendorfStone 25,000 BCE

Leonardo Da VinciProportions of the Human Figure

(‘Vetruvius Man’)

http://library.thinkquest.org/27890/applications6.html

Scale Subverted

René MagrittePersonal Values 1952

Oil on canvas 31 5/8” x 39 1/2”

Jan Van EyckMadonna in the Church c.1437

Oil on Panel

Scale Hierarchical

Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen & Frank Gehry The Binocular Entrance to the Chiat Building

Venisce, CA 1985 - 91

Proportion and Scale

Claes OldenburgBat c.1977Chicago, IL

Proportion and Scale

Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van BruggenDropped Bowl with Scattered Slices and Peels 1990

Steel, reinforced concrete, fiber-reinforced plastic; painted with polyurethane enamel; stainless steelSeventeen parts 16 ft. 9 in. x 91 ft. x 105 ft.

Metro Dade Open Space Park, Miami

Proportion and Scale

Root 5 Rectangle

(based on the Golden Mean

Length = √ 5 x height )

A B C

Proportion

Classical Greek design principle

The Golden Mean

The Golden Rectangle

Proportion

MichelangeloThje Fall of Man and the Expulsion from

the Garden of Eden 1508-1512Fresco on ceiling of Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy

Based on the root 5 rectangle

Robert SmithsonSpiral Jetty

Great Salt Lake, UT 1970

Nautilus

Golden Rectangle Spiral

Proportion

Classical Greek principle

Emphasis

Emphasis [ and Focal Point ]

Richard Hamilton

Richard HamiltonMy Marilyn 1966

Silkscreen

Jasper JohnsBetween the Clock and the Bed 1981

Encaustic on canvas 6’ x 10 1/2’

Emphasis [ and Focal Point ]

* Emphasis and Focal Point - Radial

Chuck CloseLucas II 1987

Oil on canvas

Unity and Variety

Thomas Hart BentonPalisades 1919-1924

Oil

Unity

Marcel Duchamp

Nude Descending a Staircase Oil on canvas 1912

Unity and Variety

Exercise 3

Edward HopperNighthawks 1942

Oil on canvas30” x 60”

Claude MonetHaystack at Sunset Near Giverny 1891

Oil on canvas28” x 36”

Continue to Chapter 2

Part 3 / Architecture