Event Blog EXTRA CREDIT

The Timken Museum of Art has an impressive collection of paintings. Many of these reinforced many of the subjects we studied, including the golden ratio. The museum was a great chance for me to appreciate how different painters deceive viewers with different perspectives.
 

In the painting below, the focal point of the painting should be the war scene in the foreground, but instead, due to the light-dark contrast we are drawn to the clouds on the left side. In addition to the lighting, the artist also uses the Golden Ratio to organize his work. As a result of this number, Phi, we see the art in a logical progression and our eyes are drawn to the right places.


In addition, the painters use linear perspective to realistically depict a scene, and give a 2-D canvas a 3-D look in our brain (sort of like Flatland). This is particularly evident in the piece below.

The man in white appears to be on the same floor as the rest of the men, but he is just a few inches higher in the painting. Artists must coordinate these ratios perfectly in order for the painting to be "believable". Even more interesting than the foreground, is how effectively this art is incorporated the trees and grass in the background. The well-measured linear perspective fools the audience into seeing a lifelike representation rather than an abstract combination of brush strokes- another great example of C.P. Snow's brilliant hope.

Works Cited

Snow, C. P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. New York: Cambridge UP, 1959. Print.

Vesna, Victoria. “Toward a Third Culture: Being in Between.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 121-25. Web.