Chapter 2 Part 2 / Principles of Composition
Principles of Composition -Balance -Rhythm -Proportion and Scale -Emphasis -Unity and Variety
Balance
Leonardo Da Vinci The Last Supper Fresco A wall of the Refectory, Santa Mariadelle Grazie, Milan, Italy Balance symmetrical
Angkor Wat Central Temple Complexc CE Cambodia Balance symmetrical
Balance Asymmetrical Joan Miró The Birth of the World 1925 Oil on canvas
Marisol The Family Painted wood & other materials in 3 sections 1962 Balance Asymmetrical
Mark Rothko Blue, Orange, Red Oil on canvas 1961 Balance Asymmetrical
Rhythm …
Churning of the Ocean of Milk Carved stone Angkor Wat, Cambodic CE Rythm
Magdalena Abakanowicz Backs Burlap and glue 80 pieces Rhythm
Islamic Mosque in Cordoba, Spain Rhythm
Proportion and Scale
Michelangelo Buonarroti David, ’ high Proportion Venus of Willendorf Stone 25,000 BCE Leonardo Da Vinci Proportions of the Human Figure (‘Vetruvius Man’)
Scale Subverted René Magritte Personal Values 1952 Oil on canvas 31 5/8” x 39 1/2”
Jan Van Eyck Madonna 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 Proportion and Scale
Claes Oldenburg Bat c.1977 Chicago, IL Proportion and Scale
Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen Dropped Bowl with Scattered Slices and Peels 1990 Steel, reinforced concrete, fiber-reinforced plastic; painted with polyurethane enamel; stainless steel Seventeen 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 Michelangelo Thje Fall of Man and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden Fresco on ceiling of Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy Based on the root 5 rectangle
Robert Smithson Spiral Jetty Great Salt Lake, UT 1970 Nautilus Golden Rectangle Spiral Proportion Classical Greek principle
Emphasis
Emphasis [ and Focal Point ] Richard Hamilton My Marilyn 1966 Silkscreen
Jasper Johns Between the Clock and the Bed 1981 Encaustic on canvas 6’ x 10 1/2’ Emphasis [ and Focal Point ]
* Emphasis and Focal Point - Radial Chuck Close Lucas II 1987 Oil on canvas
Unity and Variety
Thomas Hart Benton Palisades Oil Unity
Marcel Duchamp Nude Descending a Staircase Oil on canvas 1912 Unity and Variety
Exercise 3
Edward Hopper Nighthawks 1942 Oil on canvas 30” x 60”
Claude Monet Haystack at Sunset Near Giverny 1891 Oil on canvas 28” x 36”
Continue to Chapter 2 Part 3 / Architecture