Math x Art

This week’s unit provided a unique insight into the overlap of mathematics and art, two subjects that seem to be the opposites of each other. Where math seeks to find order through numbers and equations, art looks to capture the immeasurable and indescribable; however, this week we focus on where the two influence each other.

Rapheal's School of Athens demonstrating
the use of linear perspective
Courtesy of: www.widewalls.ch

            In her video, “Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean,” Professor Vesna explains how geometric perspective is a necessary part of painting, a realization that was made hundreds of years ago. Brunelleschi is credited with observing the importance of linear perspective by understanding “that there should be a single vanishing point to which all parallel lines in a plane, other than the plane of the canvas, converge” (O’Connor). It is amazing that artists have been using mathematical systems to create the three-dimensional effect in their paintings, something I always thought of as innate talent – not a result of employing mathematics. In addition, artists like Frank Stella employ polygons and “descriptive geometry” to create works of art that create very unique effects (Rockmore).

da Vinci's Mona Lisa showing
its use of the golden rectangles
Courtesy of: http://mathcentral.uregina.ca

Frank Stella's "descriptive geometry" art
Courtesy of: www.huffpost.com

            One artist I found heavily built upon this concept of math and art as one was Leonardo da Vinci. He studied not only the geometry of perspective, but also of optical perspective where he extensively studied how the position of the viewer impacts perspective on a painting and how the painting can be modified accordingly (O’Connor). Furthermore, I found it amazing that one of the most famous paintings in the world, the Mona Lisa, has been hiding the concept of the “golden ratio” right under my eyes this entre time (Glydon). I have even seen this painting in person at the Louvre and never discerned the mathematical concept that makes it so aesthetically pleasing. The golden ratio is just the concept of drawing paintings with rectangles that fulfill the ratio 1:0.618. In fact, many other works by da Vinci incorporate this ratio such as The Last Supper.

            Clearly, there is a lot of overlap between mathematics and art. In fact, many of the reasons art appears to be so amazing or fascinating is because there are underlying mathematical concepts being employed as we have seen. Ultimately, the overlap of these fields is crucial for progress. Let us not forget the discovery of geometric perspective sparked an artistic revolution and launched the Italian Renaissance, while also leading to a reexamination of the fundamentals of mathematics and parallelism (Adams).

Sources: 

1) Adams, Henry. “Did Artists Lead the Way in Mathematics?” The Conversation, 4 Mar. 2019, theconversation.com/did-artists-lead-the-way-in-mathematics-75355.

2) Glydon, Natasha. “The Mathematics of Art.” The Mathematics of Art - Math Central, mathcentral.uregina.ca/beyond/articles/Art/art1.html.

3) O'Connor, J.J. “Mathematics and Art.” Mathematics and Art, www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/HistTopics/Art.html.

4) Rockmore, Dan. “...Math Is Art Is Math Is Art...” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/math-is-art-is-math-is-ar_b_8854356.

5) uconlineprogram. “Mathematics-pt1-ZeroPerspectiveGoldenMean.mov.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Apr. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMmq5B1LKDg.