Art Fundamentals Theory and Practice, 12th Edition by Otto G. Ocvirk, Robert Stinson, Philip R. Wigg, Robert O. Bone, David L. Cayton

8.25 Charles Sheeler, Delmonico Building,
1926. Lithograph, 93⁄4 3 67⁄8 in. (24.7 3
17.4 cm). This painting makes use of three-
point perspective—a “frog’s-eye view.” Harvard

Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Paul J. Sachs, M3188.

Photograph by Allan Macintyre. © President and Fellows of

Harvard College.

8.26 Gene Bodio, New City, 1992. Computer graphic created using Autodesk 3D Studio–Release 2.
This is a “bird’s-eye view” generated by a computer. Though not strictly in three-point perspective, the
picture is an unusual variation in the depiction of three-dimensional objects in space. Courtesy of the artist.

San Rafael, CA.

sometimes referred to as a “frog’s-eye upward on the page, perpendicular to is started by establishing the nearest cor-
view” (fig. 8.25) and a “bird’s-eye view” the horizon line. A third point, called ner (a). From this point, guidelines are
(fig. 8.26), respectively. the vertical vanishing point (VVP), is extended to the RVP and to the LVP.
then located at an appropriate loca- These locate the leading front edges of
The artist begins by locating the tion on this vertical axis (see fig. 8.27). the bottom plane. The width of both
horizon line that indicates the location The location of the VVP helps control edges should then be marked (b and
of the viewer’s eyes—either relatively the distortion of the object; the farther c). From those points, new guidelines
high or low in the picture—and fix- away from the horizon line the third should be extended to the RVP and
ing the left vanishing point (LVP) and point is located, the less exaggerated LVP. This completes the bottom plane
the right vanishing point (RVP) at the the image will be. and locates all four of its corners.
appropriate locations (fig. 8.27). As
with two-point perspective, the closer Instead of starting with the nearest The “verticals” should now be drawn
together the vanishing points are flat plane (as in one-point) or the nearest up and away from the three closest cor-
placed, the greater the exaggeration edge (as in two-point), three-point per- ners (marked a, b, and c); but because
or distortion of the image. Next, the spective begins with the nearest corner. there are no true verticals in three-point
artist determines the viewer’s location In figure 8.27, the image (a rectangular perspective, these lines will have to con-
and extends an imaginary vertical line solid that seems to be floating overhead) verge to the VVP. Once the “verticals”

240 C HAPTER 8 Space

VVP 8.27 With three-point perspective, a vantage point
is assumed far above or below the subject. This will
cause the sides, as well as the top and bottom edges, to
converge to one of the three distant vanishing points.

d f
e

a c
b

g

LVP RVP
C
Viewer’s location point

d 8.28 Subdividing a plane. These diagrams
bc illustrate how to find the perspective center of
a plane by crossing diagonals from corner to
a corner (A). To draw a circle on the same plane,
divide each half of the diagonals into thirds.
b A B Draw the circle so that it passes through the
a outside “third” marks (closest to the corners) on
the diagonals. The circle should also touch the
middle points on the sides of the square. This
concept can be applied to one- and two-point
perspective (B and C).

are drawn, the height of the rectangu- Perspective Concepts Applied frontal plane—square or rectangular—
lar solid can be established on the cen- can be found by physically measuring
ter “vertical” edge. After marking this Whether using one-, two-, or three- the horizontal and vertical lengths and
point (d), guidelines are extended from point perspective, the artist is work- dividing them in half. Lines (a) drawn
it to the RVP and to the LVP. This com- ing with a system that helps establish from those points parallel to the ver-
pletes the drawing of the edges and fully items of known size at various dis- ticals and horizontals will divide the
defines the geometric solid as seen from tances into the picture plane. Based plane into quarters. However, this
below in three-point perspective. In cer- on the angle and orientation of the re- type of subdividing works only on flat
tain cases, such as when the object walls ceding plane, dimensions decrease at frontal planes (which are found exclu-
are meant to be transparent, the hidden a predictable rate. But in order for the sively in one-point perspective—not
back edges (extended from the corners artist to depict the proper rate of reces- two- or three-point perspective). It will
labeled e, f, and g) could also be added. sion, he or she must first be able to find not work on any plane with converg-
the midpoints, or centers, of various ing sides (regardless of whether one-,
In three-point perspective, all lines planes. two-, or three-point) because the sides
recede to vanishing points. Guidelines get smaller as they move away from the
are neither perpendicular nor paral- As illustrated in figure 8.28A, a cube viewer, and their changing ratio is not
lel to one another but at oblique angles shown in one-point perspective has measurable on a ruler.
(see fig. 8.25). a frontal plane, a receding top, and a
receding side plane. The center of any

Spatial Indicators 241

BC

A

8.29 When seen from the side, a perfect circle looks like an ellipse. The ellipse flattens as it moves closer to the
horizon line (A). It may be applied to an inclined plane (B) or used to create arches, tunnels, and so on (C).

Notice on the frontal plane, that that frontal plane (fig. 8.28B). Notice shows how ellipses change as they rise
the diagonals (b) drawn from corner that when the diagonals are divided and fall in relation to the horizon line.
to corner pass through the exact center in thirds between the center and each Notice that the ellipses flatten as they
found by measurement. The same type corner, the circle crosses the diagonal get closer to the horizon line but become
of diagonal lines drawn from corner to lines on approximately the outer third more circular the farther they are away
corner on a receding plane will pass mark. When a receding plane is meant from the horizon line. Of course, ellipses
through and reveal the perspective cen- to contain a circle, the circle will actu- do not always have to be horizontal or
ter of the receding plane. Lines drawn ally appear as an ellipse and cannot be vertical—observe the ellipse drawn on
through this center point, parallel to drawn using a compass. The appro- a diagonal plane (fig. 8.29B). It is drawn
the front edge (c) and to the vanishing priate ellipse can be drawn on the top using the same corner-to-corner diago-
point (d), then create an equal division receding plane when it passes through nals used to find the center of the diago-
of the four edges of the receding plane. the third marks on the diagonals and nal plane. The same concept can also be
This concept of corner-to-corner diago- touches the square on the center points used to draw arches, bridges, and so on
nals may be applied to cubes or rect- of each side. This system may be (fig. 8.29C). Although only the upper
angles in one-, two-, and three-point applied to any receding plane—vertical half of the ellipses are seen in an arch,
perspective to locate the perspective or horizontal—in one-, two-, or three- it is necessary to know the basic cube or
centers on any receding plane. point perspective (fig. 8.28C). rectangle it is based on and the appropri-
ate perspective centers.
Using the center point of a cube’s Occasionally, an artist must draw
front square, a circle can be drawn appropriate ellipses for the top and bot- Once a square or rectangle is cre-
with a compass to fit perfectly into tom of a cylindrical object. Figure 8.29A ated, it may be easily turned into a

242 C HAPTER 8 Space

8.30 The concept of locating a plane’s
perspective center and the correct ellipse to
indicate a circle can be extended to create
pyramids, cylinders, and cones.

AC
BD

pyramid, cylinder, or cone by finding extend the diagonal guidelines from bottom guidelines. Where the extended
the perspective center for the top and the perspective center. To illustrate, line touches the guideline, draw another
bottom planes of the new shapes. For a study figure 8.28A, covering up the top vertical; this will become the next pole at
pyramid (fig. 8.30A), simply draw lines half of the illustration. Note that even a perspective unit equal to the one just
from the top plane’s perspective center though the diagonal lines (b) appear projected. Another single diagonal line
to the four corners on the bottom plane. to stop at the center point, in fact they can be drawn to project from the previ-
For the cylinder (fig. 8.30B), it will continue on toward the lower corners. ous pole through the center point on the
be necessary to first draw the proper Using the diagonal guidelines, you can new pole to find the location of the next
ellipse on the top and bottom planes— project a known shape (in this case the pole. This process may be repeated until
as described earlier. Then draw vertical upper half of the square) into a space the number of poles desired has been
lines from the outermost limits of both on the opposite side of the center mark reached.
ellipses. Also note that a second pyra- by extending the diagonals until they
mid (fig. 8.30C) and cone (fig. 8.30D) can cross an extension of the bottom edge. Spacing may be projected hori-
be drawn with only the establishment zontally as well as vertically. You can
of the bottom plane. From the perspec- So, to draw equally spaced telephone see the same procedure at work with
tive center of the bottom plane, draw a poles in perspective, draw the first pole the horizontal guardrail shadows in
vertical line at any desired length. Then and extend guidelines from the top and the lower right corner of figure 8.31.
from the end of this line, draw lines to bottom to the vanishing point (fig. 8.31). In addition, linear projection may be
the four corners (for a pyramid) or to Draw the second pole touching the top applied to locate floor tiles, windows,
the outer-edge points on an ellipse (for and bottom guidelines at any distance or any architectural components with
a cone). from the first. The two poles should consistent spacing (fig. 8.32).
be parallel. Next, find the center of the
The system for finding the perspec- second pole either by measuring or by A perspective drawing may also
tive center of a receding plane can also finding the perspective center between have several vanishing points other
be used to project known distances poles (by intersecting diagonals) and than those located on the horizon line
back or sideways into space at the running a guideline from that midpoint (fig. 8.33). Multiple vanishing points are
proper diminishing rate or ratio. If a to the vanishing point—the guideline often used when it is desirable to show
telephone company plants seven poles will run through the center of the sec- multiple objects set at different angles,
equally spaced down the road, how ond pole. Then draw a line from the such as on a gable, a truss-roofed house,
does an artist know exactly where they top or bottom of the first pole through a door opening at an angle, or an open
should be drawn on the picture plane? the midpoint found on the second pole, box lid. In such cases, the edges of the
The answer to this lies in the ability to extending it until it touches the top and angular planes are extended to vanish-
ing points separate from the LVP, RVP,

Spatial Indicators 243

8.31 Telephone poles showing vertical projection systems. A given unit—the distance between two
telephone poles—may be projected. Extending a diagonal guideline from a corner through the midpoint
of the next pole to the appropriate top or bottom guideline reveals the location of the next pole. Units
may be projected on a vertical or horizontal plane.

8.32 A room interior. Because horizontals and verticals
in one-point perspective may be measured, all tile spacing
was marked on the back edge of the floor. From the
vanishing point, floor lines were extended through each
of these points toward the viewer. After establishing the
first row of tiles, a diagonal line was extended from corner
to corner of one tile and beyond. Where the diagonal
crossed each floor line, a horizontal line was drawn,
thereby defining a new row of tiles. A second line, passing
through the center of the edge of each tile, located points
that were projected onto both walls to identify wallboard
spacing and window widths.

244 C HAPTER 8 Space

To VP7

VP6 VP4 VP3 VP2

To VP5

To VP1

8.33 Seven in one. Seven vanishing points (VPs) were used to create this drawing. VPs 1 and 2 were used for
the left box. VP 3 was used to create the center cube. VPs 4 and 5 were used for the open crate on the right.
VP 6 was used for the floor tiles. VP 7 was used to define the inclined plane of the box lid and its lettering.

or VVP, and any additional images on in attempts to make it more flexible 3. The necessary recession of parallel
those planes (like shingles or window or more realistic in depicting natural lines toward common points read-
panes) would be extended to those new appearances. Some of these include the ily leads to monotonous effects.
points. A separate vanishing point may use of multiple perspectives, with more
also be located to represent a source of than three vanishing points, and, at 4. The reduction of scale within a sin-
light, with all cast shadows being indi- other times, the use of multiple eye lev- gle object, resulting from the con-
cated by guidelines projected from it to els. Linear perspective was most popu- vergence of lines, is a type of dis-
the ground plane. Furthermore, an artist lar during periods of scientific inquiry tortion (see fig. 8.14; this diagram
may encounter situations where houses and reached its culmination in the mid- indicates that a rectangular shape
and other objects are not parallel to nineteenth century. Despite the math- depicted in perspective becomes a
each other. As a result, one-, two-, and ematical accuracy in which it depicts trapezoid and leaves spatial vacu-
possibly three-point perspective systems natural appearances, the method has ums above C and below D).
may all be used in the same drawing. certain disadvantages that, in the opin-
ion of some artists, outweigh its use- These disadvantages are mentioned
The Disadvantages fulness. Briefly, the liabilities of linear only to suggest that familiar modes of
of Linear Perspective perspective are as follows: vision are not necessarily best in every
work of art. At times, an intuitive use
Linear perspective has been a traditional 1. It can never depict a shape or mass of perspective can be more expressive
drawing device used by artists for cen- as it is known to be. than systematic formulas for indicating
turies. During that time, the system has pictorial depth (see fig. 8.38).
evolved and undergone modifications 2. It can portray appearances from
only one position in space. To a certain extent, artists can be-
come prisoners of the system they use.

Spatial Indicators 245

45° 8.34 M. C. Escher, Waterfall, 1961. such as oblique projection, isometric
Lithograph, 15 3 11 in. (380 3 300 cm). From projection, orthographic projection, and
8.35A Oblique projection. This system for his early youth, Escher practiced the graphic reverse perspective. Most of these meth-
showing spatial relationships makes use of a flat technique of perspective and for many years ods use nonconverging parallel project-
frontal shape with nonconverging side planes strived to master that skill. Later, he found ing lines, and because they present a
drawn at a 45-degree angle from the front plane. ideas he could communicate by extending his stable and consistently measurable image
perspective technique, and he became fascinated that does not diminish as it recedes, de-
Because of its inflexible rules, per- with visually subverting our commonsense view signers, architects, and technical engi-
spective emphasizes accuracy of of the three-dimensional world. In this print, neers use them for ease of drawing. These
representation—an emphasis that tends Escher knew it was impossible to see multiple systems do, however, tend to flatten out
to make the presentation more impor- stories of the same building on one level. Yet, objects when compared to traditional
tant than what is being represented. the water flows downhill from the first floor to perspective systems that use vanishing
If, however, artists see perspective as the third. © 2011 The M. C. Escher Company-Holland. All points.
an aid rather than an end in itself, as
something to be used when and if the rights reserved. www.mcescher.com. Oblique projection looks, at first
need arises in creating a picture, it can glance, to be related to one-point per-
be very useful (see fig. 8.15). Many 30° 30° spective, for both present a flat frontal
fine works of art ignore perspective or 8.35B Isometric projection. This system for view that is always parallel to the pic-
show “faults” in the use of the system. showing spatial relationships features a vertical ture plane (fig. 8.35A). However, with
front edge and nonconverging side planes, which oblique projection, all the left- or right-
are drawn at a 30-degree angle to the left and side edges are drawn parallel and come
right. off the frontal plane at a 45-degree angle.
(They would converge at a singular
In such cases, the type of spatial order vanishing point, if drawn in one-point
created by traditional perspective is not perspective.) For engineering and archi-
compatible with the aims of the artists tectural applications, the frontal plane is
(fig. 8.34). However, like any tool, per- always drawn at full scale. This use of
spective should be learned by artists nonconverging parallel edges on reced-
because it extends the range of concep- ing planes is common in traditional
tual expression. Asian art.

Other Projection Systems Isometric projection may be com-
pared to two-point perspective in
The spatial position of objects may also appearance. Both begin with a vertical
be depicted using other graphic systems front edge. However, in isometric pro-
jection there are not any converging
receding edges (fig. 8.35B). All edges
that intersect at the vertical move
away at a 30-degree angle, both to the
left and to the right. For ease of draw-
ing, all three dimensions of the object
use the same measurement system
(scale); there is no diminishing ratio
on the receding planes. Hence, this
system is used for technical illustra-
tion and drafting to illustrate and con-
vey accurate dimensions. Artists often
prefer this system to oblique perspec-
tive because all three faces are visible
at the same time with less apparent
distortion. No side of the image is
drawn parallel to the viewer (picture
plane).

246 C HAPTER 8 Space

A

B

8.36 Attributed to Liang Kai, Sericulture (detail), Chinese, early thirteenth century, Southern Song dynasty.
Handscroll, ink, and light color on paper, 26.5 3 98.5 cm. (A) This Chinese artist, following his own (Asian) concept
of space as moving forward toward the observer, employs—from a Western point of view—a kind of reverse
perspective. (B) A simple analysis of the Sericulture detail shows that if the lines defining the buildings are extended back
toward the horizon line, they will never meet as they would in the linear perspective of Western artists. However, if
they are extended forward, following the Asian concept of space, they seem to converge. As a result, the front of the
buildings is narrower than the back—which is characteristic of East Asian perspective. © The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L.

Severance Fund, 1977.5.

Orthographic drawing is perhaps object are drawn parallel or perpen- recede. This type of perspective closes the
less understood as a system for identify- dicular to a base line, and the mea- spatial depth so that the picture becomes
ing objects in a spatial setting, but art- surements are scaled to an exact ratio. a stage and the spectator becomes a
ists, engineers, industrial designers, participant in an active spatial panorama
and architects use it to present blue- Reverse perspective, as seen in tra- (fig. 8.36A and B). Works that use reverse
prints and schematic layouts (see fig. ditional East Asian art, is a dramatic perspective encompass the viewer, who
9.6). With this system (which presents contrast to the linear perspective of the feels surrounded by the content. Similar
plan, elevation, and section views), all West. Reverse perspective prescribes the approaches have been employed in the
sides of the rectangular (geometric) convergence of “parallel” lines as they West during various historical periods.
approach the viewer, rather than as they

Spatial Indicators 247

Ideas on perspective in art are for-
med by and, in turn, influence the pre-
vailing intellectual climate of the society.
In this sense, the very notion of space
itself is a form of human expression.

Intuitive Space 8.37 Cory Arcangel, Photoshop Gradient, 2008. Digital art. Certain contemporary artists employ
technology to create unusual spatial effects. In this work, Cory Arcangel uses the gradient tool in
The same planes and volumes that create the popular software Photoshop to simulate one-point perspective. As a result, the colors seem to
illusions of space in linear perspective explode outward from a distant point. © Cory Arcangel.
can also be used to produce intuitive
space, which does not use strict rules and ing. Many types of spatial experiences would be indistinguishable from a dot or
formulas. Intuitive space is based not on can be achieved by manipulating the a shape), it tends to emphasize one direc-
a system, but on the artist’s instinct for elements—that is, by varying their posi- tion. As a line extends into a certain direc-
manipulating certain space-producing tion, number, direction, value, texture, tion, it creates continuity, moving the eye
devices. These devices include overlap- size, and color. The resultant spatial of the observer from one unit or general
ping, transparency, interpenetration, variations are endless (see fig. 3.19). area to another. Line can be a transition
inclined or receding planes (converging that unifies the front, middle, and back-
parallels), disproportionate scale, and Line and Space ground areas.
fractional representation. In addition,
the artist may exploit the inherent spa- Line, by its nature, implies continued In addition to direction, line con-
tial properties of the art elements. The direction of movement. Whether mov- tains other spatial properties. Long or
physical properties of the art elements ing across the picture plane or deep into short lines, thick or thin lines, straight,
can thrust forward or backward and, it, line helps indicate spatial presence. angular, or curved lines all take on dif-
in doing so, can be used to define items Because, by definition, a line must be ferent spatial positions in contrast with
spatially. By marshaling these spatial greater in length than in width (or else it one another. The various methods of
forces in any combination as needed, perspective that we have learned can be
the artist can impart a sense of space to a
work (fig. 8.37). The space derived from
this method is intuitively sensed by the
viewer. If judged by the standards of
linear perspective, however, this type of
space may seem strange, even distorted.
Nevertheless, intuitive space has been
the dominant procedure during most of
the history of art; it rarely implies great
depth, but it makes for tightly knit im-
agery within a relatively shallow spatial
field (fig. 8.38).

THE SPATIAL
PROPERTIES
OF THE ELEMENTS

An artist must recognize and explore
the spatial effects that arise from using
the elements of art. Each of the ele-
ments possesses inherent spatial quali-
ties, but the interrelationship between
elements yields the greatest spatial feel-

248 C HAPTER 8 Space

8.38 Lyonel Feininger, Hopfgarten, 1920. Oil on canvas, 25 3 321⁄4 in. In this painting, the artist has used intuitive
methods of space control, including overlapping planes and transparencies, as well as planes that interpenetrate one another
and incline into space. Given in memory of Catharine Roberts Seybold by her friends and family. The Minneapolis Institute of the Arts.

combined with the physical properties grow darker across the composition. Unattached single lines define their
of line. A long thick line, for instance, This missing section, or implied line, in own space and may have plastic quali-
appears larger and hence closer to the addition to controlling compositional ties within themselves. Lines also clarify
viewer than a short thin line. Overlap- direction and movement, invariably the spatial dimensions of solid shapes
ping lines establish differing spatial suggests change of position in space. (fig. 8.40).
positions, especially when they are set
in opposite directions (e.g., vertical The spatial indication of line con- Shape and Space
against horizontal). A diagonal line vergence that occurs in linear perspec-
may be made to move from the pic- tive is always in evidence wherever Shape may refer to planes, solids, or
ture plane into deep space, whereas a complex of lines occurs. The spatial volumes, all of which occupy space
a vertical or horizontal line gener- suggestions arising out of this principle and should therefore be discussed here.
ally appears comparatively static (fig. are so infinitely varied that particular A planar shape, although physically
8.39). In addition, the plastic qualities effects are usually the product of the two-dimensional, may create the illu-
of overlapping lines can be increased artist’s intuitive explorations. Wavy, sion of three-dimensional space (see
by modulating their values. Lines spiral, serpentine, and zigzag line types fig. 4.10). The space only appears two-
can be lightened to the point that adapt to all kinds of space through their dimensional when the plane seems to lie
they disappear (become “lost”) only unexpected deviations of direction and flat on the picture surface (see fig. 4.1).
to reappear (become “found”) and accent. They seem to move back and The space appears three-dimensional
forth from one spatial plane to another.

The Spatial Properties of the Elements 249

8.39 Terry Winters, Untitled (Indigo), 2003.
Oil on linen, 77 3 591⁄2 in. The physical
characteristics and properties of each line
contribute to the development of the space
within this painting. Individual lines overlap,
converge, and define their own space while
collectively creating a relatively deep visual
labyrinth. © Terry Winters, Courtesy Matthew Marks

Gallery, New York.

8.40 Al Held, B/WX, 1968. Acrylic on canvas, 9 ft. 6 in. 3 9 ft. 6 in.
(2.90 3 2.90 m). Although the physical properties of the lines in this work
are consistent throughout, their arrangement causes the enclosed shapes to
be seen in different spatial positions. This is somewhat similar to the program
of Op Art. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, 1969. Art Resource,

NY. Art © Al Held/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

8.41 Planes and solids in space. The
relationship of planes in this diagram describes
an effect of solids or volumes that in turn seem
to occupy space. The size, overlapping, and
placement of these volumes further increase
the effect of solidity. The horizontal shaded lines
indicate an imaginary position for the picture
plane, causing the near volume to project into the
observer’s space, or in front of the picture plane.

250 C HAPTER 8 Space

8.42 René Magritte, The Unmasked Universe, 1932. Oil on canvas, 29.5 3 35.8 in. when its edges seem to converge at a
(75 3 91 cm). On close inspection, one can see that this work is deliberately inconsistent in point toward the front or the back of the
its use of space. As a Surrealist, Magritte often created ambiguous and unexpected effects to picture plane (see figs. 2.21 and 8.23).
titillate our senses. Art © 2011 C. Herscovici, London/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. © Photo Herscovici/Art
Solids, volumes, and masses auto-
Resource, NY. matically suggest three dimensions.
Such shapes express the space in which
8.43 Tony King, Map: Spirit of ’76, 1976. Acrylic and newspaper on canvas, they exist and become an actual part of
7 3 8 ft. (2.13 3 2.44 m). The format, with its papier collé surface, is perfectly it (figs. 8.41 and 8.42). The spatial posi-
flat, but the use of light and dark values creates a strongly three-dimensional tion of planes, solids, and volumes can
illusion. Courtesy of Owens Corning Collection, Toledo, OH. be made distant by diminishing their
size in comparison to others in the
foreground and by neutralizing their
value, color, intensity, and detail (see
fig. 8.38). This treatment relates back to
the indications of space outlined earlier
in this chapter.

Value and Space

Value is also an important way to con-
trol pictorial space. When a light source
is assumed to be in front of a work, the
objects in the foreground appear light.
The middle and background objects be-
come progressively darker as they move
away from the picture plane (see fig.
T.27). When the light source is located at
the back of the work, the order of values
is reversed (see fig. 6.17). The order of
value change is consistent in gradation
from light to dark or dark to light.

In the natural world, foreground
objects are seen with clarity and great
contrast, while distant objects are ill
defined and gray. Therefore, neutral
grays, when juxtaposed with blacks or
whites, generally take a distant posi-
tion (see fig. 8.4).

Cast shadows are sometimes help-
ful in describing plastic shape (see figs.
5.10A and 5.15), but they may be spa-
tially confusing and even injurious to
the design if not handled judiciously
(see fig. 5.9). Shapes that are defined by
multiple light sources, however, may
appear flattened and decorative (see
fig. 5.10B).

Value-modeling can be abstract in
the sense that it need not follow the
objective natural order of light and
dark. Many artists totally ignore this

The Spatial Properties of the Elements 251

natural order, using instead the inher-
ent spatial position that results from
the contrast of dark and light (fig. 8.43).

Texture and Space 8.44 John Marin, Sun Spots, 1920. Watercolor and charcoal on off-white wove paper,
161⁄2 3 193⁄4 in. (41.9 3 50.2 cm). Marin used the watercolor medium to exhibit a free,
Because of the surface enrichment loose style of painting. His play of color—sea against sunspots—helps create tremendous
that texture produces, it is tempting to spatial interaction. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949 (49.70.121). Photograph ©
think of this element purely in terms of
decorative usefulness. However, texture The Metropolitan Museum of Art /Art Resource, NY.
can also have the plastic function of de-
scribing the spatial depth of surfaces. 8.45 Hans Hofmann, The Gate, 1959–60.
Sharp, clear, and bold textures generally Oil on canvas, 6 ft. 31⁄8 in. 3 4 ft. 1⁄2 in.
advance, and fuzzy, dull, and minuscule (1.9 3 1.23 m). The large receding areas of
textures generally recede (see fig. 6.17). cool greens and blues in this painting unify
When modified through varied use of the color scheme. The smaller areas of warm
value, color, and line, texture significantly yellows and reds contrast with the background
contributes to a work’s sense of space. colors and seem to float in space, creating a
unique illusion of depth. Solomon R. Guggenheim
Texture is an important element
used to produce the flat, decorative sur- Museum, New York, NY. 62.1620. Photograph by David
face so valued in contemporary art. The Heald. © Estate of Hans Hofmann/Licensed by VAGA,
physical character of texture is related New York, NY.
to allover patterned design and there-
fore operates effectively on decorative
surfaces. When patterned surfaces are
repeated and distributed over the entire
pictorial area, the flatness of the picture
plane becomes vitally important. Many
works by Pablo Picasso utilize surface
textures to preserve the flatness of the
picture plane (see fig. 6.16).

Color and Space

One of the outstanding contributions of
modern artists has been their reevalu-
ation of the plastic potentials of color.
Color is now used specifically and pur-
posefully to model the various spatial
planes of surface areas (see the “Plastic
Colors” section in Chapter 7). Since the
time of Cézanne, a new awareness of the
spatial characteristics of color has arisen
in art. Prior to that, space was considered
to be derived from the picture plane and
the view that receded into or behind it.
Later, John Marin and others dealt with
the spaces on or in front of the picture
plane chiefly through the use of color
(fig. 8.44). Hans Hofmann, the abstrac-
tionist, often used colors to advance

252 C HAPTER 8 Space

8.46 Structured ambiguity versus stable figure/ground relationships.

shapes seemingly beyond the picture Now, however, we should con- ambiguity is introduced where needed
plane. He controlled the degree to which sider for a moment a different type of and avoided where inappropriate, the
they advanced or receded by contrasts of space—albeit an ambiguous or uncer- resulting images will have the best
value, intensity, and hue (fig. 8.45). tain space—called structured ambigu- of both worlds: smooth transitions
ity. This space occurs when a mark, between opposing grounds, recogniz-
Analogous colors, because they are a group of marks, or a shape seems able shapes, interesting value patterns,
closely related, create limited spatial vague or unreadable—appearing to and convincing sense of space.
movement; contrasting colors enlarge be positive (figure) at one moment
the space and provide varied accents but negative (background) at the next. How, then, is a structured ambigu-
or focal points of interest. Changes in It may even fluctuate back and forth ity created, and what conditions cause
value and intensity can also be used between the two states. This is a situ- it to occur? When an artist’s pen, pen-
to explore the limitless dimensions of ation that denies a clear shape iden- cil, or brush touches the white picture
space. tity and thus prevents a clear sense of plane, two things happen. First, the
space. resulting mark defines a location and
STRUCTURED divides, to some extent, the picture
AMBIGUITY As a spatial condition, even though plane. Generally, the mark is seen as
uncertain, structured ambiguity can be a positive image, while the remaining
We have learned about the develop- a very important tool in the develop- area is perceived as negative. Second,
ment of three-dimensional space in the ment of optical illusions and softening the mark may seem to take a position
graphic arts, looking at the common spatial effects; it also can work to tran- in front of or at some distance behind
spatial indicators like size, position, sition between areas of contrasting val- the picture plane. Each of these quali-
overlapping, clarity of detail, and so ues or opposing colors, which makes ties will continue to be important as the
forth. In the process, we have seen that for interesting value patterns (see figs. work develops.
pictorial space often depends on the 2.19 and 3.14C). For these reasons
viewer’s ability to recognize a line, a alone, it is important to understand As marks accumulate and become
group of marks, or a shape. Once iden- how structured ambiguities can be cre- shapes, the artist begins to design
tified, the line, marks, or shape become ated. However, it’s also important to these shapes into an organized pat-
the positive figure(s) within a spatial know when to avoid them. Images will tern. In figure 8.46A, the shapes are
reference relative to the surrounding likely be more readable without ambig- seen as black positive figures on a white
area or ground. uous spatial references and confusing negative ground. When the shapes are
figure/ground identity. So, if structured drawn close together, as in figure 8.46B,
the black pattern still reads as positive

Structured Ambiguity 253

and the white as the negative ground. background because of the difference in and intensity. All of these factors con-
But, when the areas of black and white the amount of black and white as well tribute to the viewer’s inability to find
are relatively equal in volume—neither as the variation in size of those shapes. the animals.
surrounding the other—or when they
are surrounded by a third value or color It is interesting to note that there are To fully understand the variable
(fig. 8.46C), the figure/ground relation- times when a positive area can act as ground conditions inherent in a struc-
ship between the black and white areas a negative without necessarily creating tured ambiguity, it must be experi-
is much less obvious, even impossible a sense of ambiguous space. This can enced firsthand. There is an exercise to
to distinguish. One moment the black be seen in figure 8.46F, where a large help an artist discern the moment when
shapes are perceived as positive, mak- red circle (seen as a positive against developing forms reverse their ground
ing a pattern on a white ground, and the black) can also function as a back- relationships or become ambiguous. It
the next moment the reverse seems to be ground for smaller black and white requires a source of interesting type-
true. The spatial relationship between squares (see also fig. 2.24). The smaller face and a pair of cropper bars. The
the black areas and the white areas has shapes remain positive while the red objective will be to slide the cropper
been lost. circle fluctuates between positive and bars around until shapes lose the iden-
negative, depending upon where we tity of the typeface and create uncer-
The primary cause of this ambiguity focus our attention. tainty about whether they function as
is a state of equivalency. Equal amounts figure or background. The exercise is
of any or all of the following elements Beginning artists are often advised illustrated in figure 8.47 A through L.
may cause the unstable figure/ground not to mat with black mats, because
condition: doing so can destroy the pattern of the In figure 8.47A, the letters definitely
original figure/ground relationship. read as yellow figure on a black back-
• The size of the positive and nega- For example, in figure 8.46G, positive ground. As you slide the cropper bars
tive areas involved black shapes create a design on a white around, reducing the amount of back-
background. But when closely cropped ground, there will be a moment when
• The volume of black and white or with a black mat, as in figure 8.46H, the identity of the letters is destroyed
opposing color used to define the the planned pattern of the black shapes and the relationship between what is
shapes becomes part of the background and the positive and what is negative is lost
white background becomes the posi- (fig. 8.47B and C). When that moment
• The size of the marks made and the tive pattern—this unplanned shift could occurs, try to discern the equivalency in
spaces between them greatly alter the effectiveness of the orig- the volume of both colors. Figure 8.47D
inal design. This may occur even with illustrates the same solution but with
• The character of the marks and multisided shapes, as in figures 8.46I multiple colors.
the character of the negative areas and 8.46J. The same concept applies to
(including direction, width, and any colored mats used on works with With letters that have distinct
length) similarly colored shapes. shapes, it may be more difficult to lose
the letter’s identity, as demonstrated in
• The shape type Although simplified geometric figure 8.47F through I. In order to cre-
• The application or general qual- shapes were used for the sake of clar- ate structured ambiguity in those cases,
ity in these illustrations, the same prin- it may help to change the angle or work
ity of any of the elements used to ciples apply to more complicated studio upside down; seeing the shape in a new
define the positive and negative work. In figures 8.46K and 8.46L, struc- context will probably help it lose its old
areas (texture, color, value, inten- tured ambiguity allows the zebras to be identity (in fig. 8.47, compare H to I and
sity, and so forth). more difficult to discover, as if camou- C to E).
flaged within the elements of the com-
Ambiguous space also occurs when position. Shapes run off the edges of If you continue to crop in closer
one shape or color is not allowed to the composition. Implied edges create after reaching a state of structured
surround another (fig. 8.46D, see also additional floating shapes that seem ambiguity, you will see the figure/
fig. 2.8) or when all shapes run off the both positive and negative. Because it is ground relationship reverse. In figure
edges of the composition (see fig. 1.37). unclear where the shapes truly begin or 8.47J, the green letter has been cropped
In both of these situations, the viewer end, entire areas of the work fluctuate so close that it has become the back-
cannot tell where the shapes begin or between figure and ground. The image ground—and the red background has
end, which adds instability to the spa- is also filled with similar shape type, now become the positive figure.
tial condition. Because the shapes in direction, length, width, texture, color,
figure 8.46A, B, and E are surrounded, In figure 8.47K, this exercise is
they have a greater probability of func- applied to a woodcut print that uses
tioning as figures, or positive areas; the
surrounding color becomes an area of

254 C HAPTER 8 Space

8.47 A structured ambiguity exercise.

A

8.48 (A) Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, Gotham typeface, 2000; (B) Andy Rogerson,
Typography Is Graphic Design, 2011. The typography example on the left (A) can be read easily
because the relationship between positive and negative space is clear. In the example on the right
(B), the designer blurred the relationship between background and foreground by overlapping the
letters and using progressively darker shades of grey. The result is an ambiguous rendering of the
word “typography.”(A) © Hoefler & Frere-Jones, Inc.; (B) © Andy Rogerson.

black lines on white and white lines will help establish optical illusions, cre- B
on black. By cropping in, you can see ate compositions in which you wish to
an area where the marks do not have deny a sense of space, transition between ceramics, jewelry, architecture, and
a stable figure/ground relationship areas of contrast, or make an area or much installation work—space actu-
(fig 8.47L). This is an area of structured image softly blend into its surround- ally exists and must be treated as an
ambiguity that functions as a transition ing area. Both structured ambiguity element. For artists working in three-
between the two ground systems. and stable figure/ground relationships dimensional mediums, space is a bound-
are useful in the right setting, and both, less extension of area in all directions.
When an artist understands what when grasped, are valuable tools at the Insofar as pure space has no visual qual-
creates structured ambiguity, he or she disposal of the artist. ities, a medium is necessary to define
can choose to incorporate it or avoid and limit the space that is to be used.
it. Images can be made to read clearly THREE-DIMENSIONAL
with the subtlest of adjustments to the APPLICATIONS When artists use space, they tend
relationship between the positive or OF SPACE to limit its vastness. They may mark
negative areas; whether this is benefi-
cial depends on the work and the artist’s In pictorial art, space is an illusion
intention. Since the positive area gets and has been presented as a product of
the most attention by its very function, the elements. However, in the three-
it is even more important to grow sensi- dimensional arts—such as sculpture,
tive to how the negative areas are being
planned and how they affect the compo-
sitions. Creating structured ambiguities

Three-Dimensional Applications of Space 255

AB C

DE F

8.49 These figures show bricks that have been arranged and rearranged to illustrate an increasing level of visual
complexity within the third dimension—this is achieved by interactions between the positive objects and negative
sculptural spaces. (A) Closely stacked bricks, (B) separated bricks, (C) alternated bricks, (D) rotated bricks,
(E) crossed and slanted bricks, (F) greatly separated bricks. Photographs: Lynn Whitney.

off boundaries in one, two, or three The individual bricks are distinguished similar to the mortar joints used by
dimensions or use measurable dista- only by the cracklike edges visible in masons. These gaps, though relatively
nces between preestablished elements. the front and side planes. These linear shallow, nevertheless produce distinc-
Objects are used to displace space and to edges are reminiscent of graphic lin- tively clearer and darker edges than
control spatial intervals while manipu- ear renderings—decorative and with- those shown in figure 8.49A. Although
lating depth. out much physical or spatial presence. the darker edges indicate greater three-
This minimalist approach is evident in dimensional variation than in the first
The complexity of three-dimensional the individual forms seen in the work stack of bricks shown, they still have
organization can be seen in figure 8.49, of Donald Judd (see fig. 2.66) and Judy decided spatial limitations. Many low-
using bricks as simple sculptural objects. Chicago (see fig. 2.72). relief sculptures (sometimes known
In figure 8.49A, four bricks have been as bas-relief) function in a similar way
arranged in a very restricted manner to The four bricks illustrated in fig- (see fig. 3.33).
form a large, minimal rectangular solid. ure 8.49B are separated by indentations

256 C HAPTER 8 Space

8.50 Ann Hamilton, tropos, 1993. Installation. Hamilton’s installations seem to provide an each side. This approach is found in
imaginative, strangely moving, sensuous world beyond verbal or logical apprehension. They offer a John Goforth’s Untitled (see fig. 1.43),
direct bodily sensation or experience that is at the core of human instincts, as the title of this work John Mishler’s Wind Seeker (see fig. 2.63),
implies. Courtesy Dia Art Foundation and Ann Hamilton Studio. Photograph by Thibault Jenson. and Bill Barrett’s Kindred (see fig. 3.30).

The bricks in figure 8.49C utilize tionships. The work is becoming more In figure 8.49F, the bricks are further
even more space. They are positioned spatially interesting as contrasts of separated and achieve even greater
so that the planes moving in depth movement, light, and shadow increase. spatial independence. They represent
are contrasted with the front and top In a way, this inward and outward play the sculptural images seen in architec-
planes, which move toward and away of bricks is similar to what the sculptor tural settings or installations, which
from the viewer. The light that strikes creates in a freestanding form (some- invite us to walk into and around them
the grouping produces stronger shad- times referred to as sculpture-in-the- to experience the expanded sense of
ows and more interesting value pat- round—meaning 3-D work not attached space. In The Gates Project for Central
terns than are found in figure 8.49B. to a wall surface). Such works are not Park, New York, Christo and Jeanne-
This arrangement can be compared to concerned with simple front and side Claude created a saffron environment
the qualities of high-relief sculpture, in views but with multiple axes and van- using fabric-covered gates. To appreci-
which the sculpted figures almost seem tage points; this instills the viewer with ate its ever-changing relationships and
to free themselves from their support- a desire to move about the piece (see multiple views, the viewer had to stroll
ing panel. The play of deep shadows figs. 2.60 and 5.26). the miles of covered walkway (see fig.
against the lights on projecting parts 1.28). Patrick Dougherty’s twisting and
of a high-relief sculpture can increase The variety of brick positions in fig- tilting woven structures also invite us
the work’s expressive or emotional ure 8.49E, particularly that of the diago- to change our perceptions of the envi-
qualities. nally tipped brick, creates far greater ronment (see fig. 6.21). Anish Kapoor
exploitation of space than the previous warps our sense of space, using large,
Although the bricks are still in a groupings. The void, or open space, mirrored surfaces to create an altered
compact and closed arrangement in emphasizes the three-dimensional qua- reflection of reality, as in Cloud Gate
figure 8.49D, their rotation makes pos- lity of the arrangement by producing (see fig. 4.34). Artists can also use the
sible new directions and spatial rela- a direct link between the space on vastness of empty space to expand
awareness of an idea or concept, such
as artificial light in Olafur Eliasson’s I
only see things when they move (fig. 1.30)
or the abundance of organic material
in Ann Hamilton’s work (fig. 8.50).
And finally, in the light installations of
James Turrell (see fig. 7.4), the viewer
experiences a boundless sense of space
as it evolves over an extended period
of time. This integration of time and
motion expands the work beyond three
dimensions—and develops what may
be thought of as four-dimensional
space (this will be fully discussed in
Chapter 9, “Time and Motion”).

Thus, we have seen the understand-
ing and application of spatial con-
cepts grow increasingly more complex.
Regardless of whether one incorporates
these concepts in clay, silver, cast bronze,
or mixed media, the challenge for the
artist is the same—to define the space,
limit its boundaries, and give it signifi-
cance through an expression of form.

Three-Dimensional Applications of Space 257

Time and Motion

THE VOCABULARY OF TIME AND MOTION MOTION PICTURES: FILM AND VIDEO

THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SPATIAL DIMENSION COMPUTERS AND MULTIMEDIA

PICTORIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF MOVEMENT IN TIME THREE-DIMENSIONAL APPLICATIONS OF TIME
Implied Motion through Line Direction or Shape Position AND MOTION
Sequenced Images
CHAPTER NINE Multiple Viewpoints
Superimposed and Blurred Images

Production still from The Matrix, 1999. Directed by Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski.

THE MATRIX © WV Films LLC. Licensed By: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

258

T I MTEHE AVONCADBULMAROY TOFI O N

Time — A system or way of measuring the interval between events or experiences.
Motion — The process of moving, or changing place or position in space.

actual motion flash-forward motion picture
The movement found in art forms like kinetic A cinematic technique of jumping to a sequence The illusion of a moving image created by
art, where bodies physically change their location of events in the story that are meant to take showing a series of still pictures in rapid
during a period of time. place in the future. sequence.

animation four-dimensional space multimedia
The rapid succession of a sequence of draw- An imaginative treatment of forms that gives a The combination of many different groups of
ings, computer-generated images, or pictures of sense of intervals of time or motion. media such as text, still and moving graph-
objects such as clay figures that create the illu- ics, and spoken and instrumental sounds; also
sion of a moving image. frame often integrated with communication technol-
A single static image as applied to cartoons, sto- ogies involving television, video, telephones,
cell (or single cell) ryboards, animation, films, videos, or computer- and computers.
One image from a series of related images that generated graphics.
presents an idea. Cells are commonly found multiple exposures
in comic strips, graphic novels, or storyboard Futurism A photographic technique that shows a figure in
presentations, which tend to isolate the images An early-twentieth-century movement that sought motion by displaying a rapid series of exposures
from each other by an outline in the shape of to express the fourth dimension through the within the same image.
a rectangle. Cells also refer to the individual speed, power, and motion of the Industrial Age.
frames of animated cartoons. slow motion
implied motion 1. A cinematic technique that slows down the
close-up The sense or illusion of movement given to a movement and time in a film; created by shoot-
A cinematic technique in which the subject fills static object. ing a high number of frames per second and
the camera frame; used to focus the viewer’s showing them at a much slower speed. 2. The
attention on specific imagery or detail. installations sense that time and movement are progressing
Interior or exterior settings of media created by more slowly than normal.
crosscutting artists to heighten the viewer’s awareness of the
A cinematic technique that abruptly shifts from environmental space. still frame
one event or character to another and is often One frame (or full-screen image) from a series
used to allow the viewer to move between kinetic of frames normally seen in a film or video
characters and change points of view as the dia- Derived from the Greek word kinesis, meaning presentation that when viewed in sequence
logue or action evolves. “motion.” Kinetic art includes the element of present the illusion of a moving picture. Related
actual motion. to cell.
dissolve
An aesthetic technique, used as a film or video long shot superimposing, superimposed images
transition between images or scenes, in which A cinematic technique in which the filmmaker A technique in which various views of the same
one shot disappears as another slowly appears. provides a distant view with a broader perspec- subject are placed on top of each other in the
tive of image; often used to imply a larger con- same image.
duration ceptual context.
The length of time in which an activity takes place. time
medium shot A system or way of measuring the interval
fade A cinematic technique in which the filmmaker between events or experiences.
An aesthetic technique, used as a film or video provides a view that seems to lie somewhere
transition between scenes, in which the image between a close-up and a long shot. video
slowly darkens to black. A recording of visual images that are stored in
mobile an electronic format (digital or videotape) and
flashback A three-dimensional moving sculpture. viewed on a television, computer monitor, or
A cinematic technique of jumping to a sequence projection screen. The sensation of motion is an
of events in the story that are meant to have motion illusion created by the rapid sequence of images.
taken place in the past. The process of moving, or changing place or
position in space.

The Vocabulary of Time Laansdt MA-ohteioadn 22559

THE SEARCH FOR of motion, which increasingly has of time within the boundaries of the
A NEW SPATIAL become a motivating factor in contem- two-dimensional picture plane. How
DIMENSION porary artistic expression. Motion and does one represent the movement of the
the resulting passage of time have both subject, or the movement of the viewer?
Every great period in the history of art become a way of considering space, The search is not just about how to
has espoused a particular concept of and artists represent them in ways that direct the amount of time spent looking
space. These spatial preferences reflect reflect the speed and pace of today’s at the image but also how to capture the
basic conditions and attitudes of the so- world. This new approach to spatial sense of time through the appearance
ciety that produced them. Whenever a conception adds a new dimension—the of physical motion, the expectation of
new approach to space is introduced, it fourth dimension: time. Whether the goal motion, and/or the sensation of being
is at first resisted by the public. Soon, is to represent moving images or to cre- moved.
however, it becomes accepted and in- ate real-time interactive artwork, the
tegrated into the artistic vocabulary. power and energy of four-dimensional Implied Motion
Eventually, it becomes the standard space continues to captivate. And as through Line Direction
filter through which people view our methods of personal communica- or Shape Position
things and a jumping-off point for new tion and entertainment change to incor-
explorations. porate the wonder of technological From time immemorial, artists have
advancements, there is no doubt that grappled with the problem of repre-
Artists of the Renaissance, for artistic expressions of space, time, and senting movement on a stationary sur-
example, conditioned by the ideas of motion will also continue to evolve. face. In the works of prehistoric and
the period, sought to accomplish the primitive cultures, the efforts were not
optical, scientific mastery of nature by PICTORIAL organized but instead were isolated at-
reducing it part-by-part to a static geo- REPRESENTATIONS OF tempts to show observed activity (such
metric system. By restricting their atten- MOVEMENT IN TIME as moving animals or ritualistic kills; see
tion to one point of view, artists were fig. 1.1). Then, as now, when the subject
able to develop perspective and repre- Writers and musicians have some con- seems paused in the midst of action,
sent illusory distortions of actual shapes trol over the amount of time their au- and relatively imbalanced, the threat of
as seen by the human eye. Modern art- diences must devote, from beginning gravity creates an almost tangible sense
ists, however, equipped with new mate- to end, to a written or musical piece. of impending movement (see fig. 2.6).
rials and technology, have continued By contrast, the work of graphic art-
the search into spatial perception begun ists has nearly always been immediate The subject’s motion can also be
during the Renaissance. The accelera- and comprehendible at just a glance. In implied through the general direction
tion of change prompted by the cata- an effort to capture their audience for and repetition of lines and shapes (see
clysmic revelations of modern science longer amounts of time, many graphic figs. 1.19, 2.10, and 2.56). This applies
has produced new concepts that are artists have explored ways of slowing even more so to nonobjective images,
without precedent. Nature’s inner and the viewing experience by manipulat- which do not have the power of sug-
outer structures have been probed with ing the sense of space and movement gestion so inherent in recognizable
microscope, camera, and telescope. within the work. shapes (see figs. 2.8 and 3.19); move-
Automobiles, airplanes, and spacecraft ment is created by the direction of
have given us the opportunity to see As discussed in Chapter 2, vari- shapes, edge quality, and color place-
more of the world than our early pre- ous treatments and combinations of ment. The feeling of motion is further
decessors even knew existed. The radi- the elements will alter the viewer’s enhanced when the elements create
cally changed environment of the artist eye movement across and through the an optical illusion—contrasting col-
has brought about a new awareness composition. Although this entices ors and shapes can make the image
of space. It has become increasingly the viewer to spend time looking at the pop out toward the viewer or create
evident that space cannot always be work, it does not really express the ideas an undulating spatial movement (see
described from one point of view, and of movement and time as concepts fig. 9.1; see also fig. T.77). In figurative
artists continue to explore the possibili- themselves. In fact, visual artists have work, gestural line is often used to
ties of space for expressive purposes. always struggled with the problem of capture the excitement and activity of
depicting movement and the passage the characters that are portrayed (see
The fast-paced modern world figs. 3.23, 3.24, and 3.25); although, in
exhibits an intense and constant sense the nonobjective works of artists like

260 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

experience of the time spent lingering
at that scene (fig. 9.4).

9.1 Bridget Riley, Drift No. 2, 1966. Acrylic on canvas, 7 ft. 71⁄2 in. 3 7 ft. 51⁄2 in. (2.32 3 Multiple Viewpoints
2.27 m). Op artists generally use geometric shapes, organizing them into patterns that produce
fluctuating, ambiguous, and tantalizing visual effects very similar to those observed in moire patterns, In the nineteenth century, Paul Cé-
such as in door or window screens. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Gift of Seymour H. Knox, Jr., 1967. zanne, a Post-Impressionist painter,
tried another approach to introduce
Albright-Knox Art Gallery/Art Resource, NY. Courtesy Karsten Schubert, London. © Bridget Riley 2011. All rights reserved. the concepts of movement, time, and
space—and in turn, extended the view-
Jackson Pollock, the gestural lines cap- movement within a designated space er’s involvement with a painting. His
ture the very movement and energy of and over a given period of time (fig. aim was to render objects in a manner
the artist himself (see fig. 7.38). 9.2). These pictures are antecedents of more “true to nature.” This nature,
the modern comic strip and graphic it should be pointed out, was not the
Sequenced Images novel (fig. 9.3). They are also the fore- Renaissance world of optical appear-
bears of animation, in which individual ances; instead, it was a world of forms
The artists of the medieval and early- frames are presented in rapid sequence in space, conceived in terms of a plas-
Renaissance periods illustrated bibli- to make the image appear to move on tic image. His images emphasized the
cal stories by repeating a series of still the screen (see fig. 9.14). mass and volume of forms by present-
pictures. The representation of the ing them in a way that included many
different phases of the narrative (ei- Some contemporary artists, such as vantage points rather than a single one,
ther in a sequence of several pictures or Lanna Pendleton Hall, instill the sense of as had been the traditional approach.
a sequence within a single work) cre- time’s passage by creating subtly chang- In addition, he also often saw objects
ated a visual synopsis of the subject’s ing cells within a single image. Together, abstracted to their basic cone, cube, or
these segments seem to capture a fuller square shape.

In his still-life paintings, Cézanne
frequently shifted the viewpoint
within the same work from the right
side to the left side and from the top
to the bottom, creating the illusion of
looking around an object. He changed
the eye levels, split the individual
object planes, and combined all of
these views in the same painting, cre-
ating a composite view of the group
(fig. 9.5). It was almost as if the viewer
had been invited to bring in a ladder
and view part of the material from a
low position and then climb far up
the ladder to see other sections before
moving the ladder and continuing to
search for new views of the objects.
This presentation of multiple views
essentially reflects our typical experi-
ence of the volume and mass of actual
objects—we move around them or
turn them in front of us.

When table edges failed to align
across the picture, tops of bottles and
baskets seemed to tilt at different angles,
or the bottoms of chairs seemed to set

Pictoral Representations of Movement in Time 261

9.2 Unknown, David and Goliath, c. 1250. Manuscript,
153⁄8 3 113⁄4 in. (39 3 30 cm). The element of time passing is
present here but in a conventional episodic manner. The order
of events proceeds in a style similar to that of a comic strip.

Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, M.638 f.28v./Art Resource, New York.

9.3 Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Volume II, 2005. O’Malley’s
popular comic, Scott Pilgrim, uses sequenced images to present the story. Here, the
panels are used to evolve the narrative and show a budding romance.

© Bryan Lee O’Malley, Courtesy of OniPress.

9.4 Lanna Pendleton Hall,
Spectacular Sunrise, 2006. Oil
on linen, 24 3 72 in. (61 3
182.9 cm). This contemporary
painting uses a sequence of
images to create the sense of
passing time. The subtle changes
between segments capture the
various lighting and atmospheric
conditions found during the
progression of a sunrise. Courtesy

of the artist.

262 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

9.5 Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Basket of Fruit (The Kitchen Table), c. 1888–90. Oil on canvas, 255⁄8 3 317⁄8 in.
(65.1 3 81 cm). Cézanne was concerned with the plastic reality of objects as well as with their organization into a
unified design. Although the pitcher and sugar bowl are viewed from a direct frontal position, the rounded jar behind
them is painted as if it were being seen from a higher location. The handle of the basket is shown as centered at
the front, but it seems to become skewed into a right-sided view as it proceeds to the rear. The left and right front
table edges do not line up and are thus viewed from different vantage points. Cézanne combined these multiple
viewpoints in one painting in order to present each object with a more profound sense of three-dimensional reality.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France. Photo © Erich Lessing/Art Resource, New York.

on floor planes that couldn’t exist under They, too, usually showed an object With the plan as a basis, the elevations
normal circumstances, early viewers from many views, except the subject (or profiles) were taken from the front
thought of Cézanne as a bad draftsman. matter was first broken down into and back, and the sections were
Many failed to understand that he was faceted planes for each of the views. taken from the right and left sides
trying to establish a new visual vocabu- Objects were rendered in a type of (fig. 9.6). The superimposing and
lary—one that represented objects and orthographic drawing, divided into juxtaposition of all this information
their space through multiple views. essential views that could be drawn showed much more of the object than
in two dimensions, not unlike the would actually be visible at one time.
In the early twentieth century, the Egyptian technique cited in Chapter 8 Although this technique is a distor-
Cubists working in a style known as (see figs. 8.12 and 8.13). The basic tion of space, everything is present
“analytic” Cubism adopted many of view (the top view) is called a plan. that we would normally expect to see.
the pictorial devices used by Cézanne.

Pictoral Representations of Movement in Time 263

9.6 Tom Haverfield, Kerosene
Lamp, c. 1960. Pen and ink, 9 3
12 in. (22.9 3 30.5 cm). In this
work, objects are rendered in a type
of orthographic drawing that divides
them into essential views able to be
drawn in two dimensions. Courtesy of

the artist.

9.7 Tom Haverfield, Kerosene
Lamp II, c. 1960. Pencil on paper,
14 3 18 in. (35.6 3 45.7 cm). The
juxtaposition of orthographic views
illustrates all the physical attributes
and different views of the object
in one drawing. Such a composite
drawing shows much more of an
object than could actually be visible
at one time. Courtesy of the artist.

In fact, it is precisely these multiple Contemporary artists like David contours. This technique, in essence,
viewpoints that create an implied Hockney have revived the interest in catalogs a moving body’s sequence
movement around the objects within the Cubists’ sense of multiple view- of positions and indicates the visible
the context of a two-dimensional points and viewer movement. Working changes.
image (fig. 9.7). from a different approach, Hockney has
made composite images from multiple Twentieth-century artists explored
In the works of the Cubists, we find photographs, each taken at a slightly the possibility of fusing these changing
that a picture can have a life of its own different angle. In this manner, the figure positions by filling out the path-
and that the creation of space is not small jumps in position and misalign- way of their movement. As a result, fig-
essentially a matter of portrayal or ren- ments between prints make the viewer ures are not seen in fixed positions but
dering. The Cubists worked step-by- continually adjust his or her viewpoint. as abstract moving paths of action (figs.
step to illustrate that the more a painted These small segments must then be 9.9 and 9.10). The subject in Marcel
object departed from straightforward joined in the mind to form a single por- Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase
optical resemblance, the more sys- trait (fig. 9.8). is not the human body but the energy
tematically the full three-dimensional the human body emits as it passes
nature of the object could be explored. Superimposed through space. This painting signified
Eventually, they developed the con- and Blurred Images important progress in the pictorializa-
cept of the “synthetically” designed tion of motion, in which the plastic
picture. Instead of analyzing a subject Another representational means to forces are functionally integrated with
into planes and shapes, they began by suggest the movement of an image in- the composition. The energy of motion
developing large, simple geometric volves superimposing (overlapping) a was also captured and explored with
shapes that were not based on a real- series of altered positions of the same the use of photography, which created
world model. Subject matter suggested figure or its parts within a single picto- superimposed images through multi-
by the shapes was then imposed, or rial arrangement; as a result, the image ple exposures of the film (fig. 9.11).
synthesized, into this spatial system may seem blurred or have indistinct
(see fig. 4.2). The Futurists, motivated by the
power and speed of the Industrial Age,

264 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

9.8 David Hockney, Mother I, Yorkshire
Moors, August 1985 #1, 1985. Photographic
collage, 181⁄2 3 13 in. (47 3 33 cm). By
layering multiple photos of an image, each taken
at a slightly different angle, the viewer is forced
to continually adjust his or her viewpoint to see
a complete image. This provides a potentially
more rounded and realistic understanding of
the subject. Photographic composites like this
also allow for the creation of an image that has
more width and depth than the view normally
seen with a camera lens. © David Hockney

9.9 Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a
Staircase, No. 2, 1912. Oil on canvas, 58 3
35 in. (147.3 3 88.9 cm). The subject of
Duchamp’s painting is not the human body
but rather the type and degree of energy
a body emits as it passes through space.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA. Louise and Walter
Arensberg Collection. Photograph by Corbis Media.
© 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP,
Paris/Succession of Marcel Duchamp.

9.10 Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, 1912. Oil on canvas, 353⁄8 3 9.11 Alvin Langdon Coburn, Portrait of Ezra
431⁄4 in. (89.9 3 109.9 cm). To suggest motion as it is involved in time and space, Pound, 1916. Photograph, size unknown.
Balla invented the technique of repeated contours. This device was soon imitated in Strongly influenced by Cubism, the diversely
newspaper comic strips, thereby becoming a mere convention. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, talented photographer Coburn produced
this multiple image of the poet Ezra Pound.
Buffalo, NY. Bequest of A. Conger Goodyear and Gift of George F. Goodyear, 1964. © 2011 Artists Rights
Courtesy George Eastman House, International Museum of
Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome.
Photography and Film.

Pictoral Representations of Movement in Time 265

9.12 Gino Severini, Dynamic Hieroglyphic of the Bal Tabarin, 1912. Oil on canvas with sequins, alternated two different images to cre-
635⁄8 3 611⁄2 in. (161.6 3 156.2 cm). The works of the Futurists were devoted to motion for ate the illusion of a moving object) and
its own sake. They included not only the shapes of figures and objects and their pathways of paralleled the discovery and devel-
movement but also their backgrounds. These features were combined in a pattern of kinetic energy. opment of photography. Among the
pioneers to link photography with the
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. Digital image © The Museum of study of motion were Coleman Sell-
ers and Eadweard Muybridge. Sellers
Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY. © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. was an engineer who, in 1861, patented
the Kinematoscope—a device that con-
machines, flight, and warfare, were also fig. T.59). Contemporary artists con- tained photographs mounted on a turn-
devoted to motion for its own sake. Their tinue to experiment with the concept of ing paddle wheel, which flashed the
works included not only the shapes superimposed images (fig. 9.13). pictures in sequence so rapidly that the
of figures and objects and their path- images appeared animated. Eadweard
ways of movement but also their back- MOTION PICTURES: Muybridge was a photographer who
grounds. These features were combined FILM AND VIDEO was known for his photographs of ani-
in a pattern of kinetic energy. Although mals and people in motion, as well as
this form of expression was not entirely Modern scientific study of the optics experiments using multiple cameras to
new, it provided a new type of artis- of an object in motion began around capture the first series of split-second
tic adventure—simultaneity of figure, 1824 (with the Thaumatrope, a toy that movements (fig. 9.14). In the late 1870s,
object, and environment (fig. 9.12; see Muybridge presented his individual
images in sequence inside a Zoetrope
(known as the “wheel of life”), which
was basically a cylinder with regu-
larly spaced vertical slots. As the im-
ages were viewed through the slots
of the spinning Zoetrope, the animals
appeared to come alive, running and
jumping (fig. 9.15). By 1879, Muybridge
was presenting his moving images
using a Zoetrope that had been modi-
fied for projection. Muybridge, a leader
in the study of objects in motion, drew
worldwide acclaim from his extensive
public lectures and book publications.

From this point onward, scientists
and artists in many countries seemed
to be in a desperate race to alter still
photography into an art form that
could depict motion in a new way.
Rather quickly, glass-plate images were
replaced by materials that could bend
and flex, and by 1887 Thomas Alva
Edison commissioned W. K. L. Dickson
to invent a motion-picture camera. In
1891, Edison presented his first motion
picture and patented a Kinetoscope
(often called a “peep show”), in which
a film loop, run on spools, passed
between an incandescent lamp and
a shutter to present moving images
for individual viewing. By 1895 short

266 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

9.13 Harold E. Edgerton,
Baseball hit-fly ball, 1950s–
1970s. Gelatin silver print,
size unknown. Harold
Edgerton used stroboscopic
and ultrahigh-speed
photography to present scenes
that were impossible to see
with the naked eye. © Harold

& Esther Edgerton Foundation, 2013.

Courtesy of Palm Press, Inc.

9.14 Eadweard Muybridge, A Horse’s Motion Scientifically
Considered, c. 1875. Engravings after photographs, size
unknown. An American rancher friend and supporter of
Muybridge encouraged his studies of horses in motion,
which proved that at some point in midgallop all four
hooves leave the ground (note the top row, numbers 2,
3, and 4). The photographer took the series with some of
the earliest fast-action cameras and went on to influence
Manet, Degas, and later artistic students of motion. Hulton

Deutsch Collection/Corbis.

Motion Pictures: Film and Video 267

9.15 The Zoetrope. Also known as the “wheel of life,”
the Zoetrope was invented in 1834 in England by William
Horner. As shown here, a strip of paper displaying a sequence
of images was placed in the center of the cylinder. When
the viewer looked through the vertical slots to the inside, the
images appeared to move as the wheel was spun. © NMPFT/

SSPL/The Image Works.

documentary films were being made feature films, and epics like David O. see a character’s facial expressions and
in the United States, Germany, France, Selznick’s Gone With the Wind (1939) body language, as well as their place-
and the Netherlands; by 1900 film and MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939). ment in a setting or environment (fig.
production had expanded to include 9.16). Crosscutting allows the viewer to
Czechoslovakia, Italy, Japan, Russia, Although the film industry in gen- move back and forth from one charac-
and Scandinavia. Projection systems eral was preoccupied with filling the ter to another as the dialogue evolves.
began appearing, which made screen- public’s appetite for action, color, and In addition to its uses in portraying a
ings for larger audiences possible. sound, the early work by film art- conversation, crosscutting can func-
Soon film theaters appeared, like the ists like D. W. Griffith had system- tion to simultaneously tell parallel and
Nickelodeon in Pittsburgh. Though atized many aesthetic techniques, often diverse storylines. To aid in the
the theaters were often set up in store- creating a language of cinema that is change from one scene to another, cer-
fronts, the realism of the narrative still used today. In a film, the sense tain transitions were also devised that
and the excitement of the action of the of space, movement, and time can all have become standard. Fades allow
new movie medium led the industry be controlled by altering the close- a scene or image to softly blur and
through many phases—from the silent- ness of images, their sequencing, and fade away; dissolves allow the image
film era to the “talkies”—including the transitions in between. Close-ups to disappear while another slowly
melodramas, westerns, slapstick come- draw attention to the character and appears—keeping the images or con-
dies, serialized episodes, fully animated their delivery. When combined with cepts from being completely isolated.
medium and long shots, the viewer can

268 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

9.16 Movie stills from (top left) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,
2002; (top right and bottom) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the
Ring, 2001. Directed by Peter Jackson. These still frames illustrate some
of the cinematic techniques that help tell a story even without dialogue
or sound: long shot, medium shot, and close-up. New Line Cinema/Photofest.

9.17 Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel
(Director), An Andalusian Dog, 1929. Black-
and-white silent film, sixteen minutes. This still
frame from the film shows the moment just
before a woman’s eye is cut open, which is
one of a series of events meant to shock the
audience. © The Everett Collection. © 2011 Salvador Dali,

Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS),

New York.

Motion Pictures: Film and Video 269

9.18 Production still from The
Matrix, 1999. Directed by Andy
Wachowski and Lana Wachowski.
This still shows how the Wachowski
siblings achieved the unique “bullet
time” effect in the film. Hundreds of
still cameras were set up around the
actor and coordinated, by computers,
to take photos in a rapid sequence.

THE MATRIX © WV Films LLC. Licensed By:

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights

Reserved.

With a camera’s ability to change view- frames per second (the speed of a film any point in a film to present a viewer
points, not only is the image moving projector); if the subjects are captured with a past episode, provide a glimpse
but the viewer is effectively chang- in the middle of fast motion, this tech- into the future, or develop a parallel
ing position as well. The emergence of nique emphasizes the speed of their storyline.
film, for the first time, allowed artists action. Similarly, time-lapse photog-
to use time as a significant element in raphy can present in a few minutes While the exploration of these tech-
two-dimensional works. In fact, the use what might have evolved over several niques and other practices like con-
of time was something that could now days, such as the blooming of a flower. trolled lighting, sound, color, etc., all
be manipulated—shifting slowly from Conversely, increasing the number of hinted at the possibilities of the new
face to face or flashing between cars or frames photographed per second (for medium for individual self-expression,
horses in a chase. example, 100 frames per second) will the scale of studio projects and the
create a sense of slow motion; a par- necessary equipment created financial
The ways in which filmmakers ticular action that in reality would only obstacles. Smaller-scale work, however,
can manipulate the sense of time is take seconds can be expanded into sev- often shown in art houses, allowed for
various. In a film, a viewer can expe- eral minutes. Using this technique, a more flexibility and individual self-
rience the time of a scene as expand- viewer can see a cowboy express sev- expression. An Andalusian Dog (1929),
ing, contracting, or jumping around. eral types of emotion as he flies off a for example, created by the painter Sal-
While the duration of a scene happens horse before hitting the ground—an vador Dalí and director Luis Buñuel,
in real time, a filmmaker can alter a action that would be a blur in real time. was a personal and emotional accom-
work’s internal time drastically. By Expanding the sense of time like this plishment that explored dreams and the
decreasing or increasing the amount allows for more detail to be captured, subconscious mind. Disjointed in chro-
of frames shot per second, a filmmaker providing greater emphasis to a scene. nology, the sixteen-minute black-and-
can make time seem to speed up or Further manipulation of time can be white silent film portrayed a nightmare
slow down. For example, time can be done through flashbacks and flash- using random sequences of images: the
sped up by photographing at 1 frame forwards, which can be inserted at night sky, a wispy cloud, the full moon,
per second, instead of the standard 24 an eye being sliced by a razor, ants in the

270 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

9.19 Nam June Paik, Hamlet Robot, 1996. Two radios, twenty-four well-financed studios. The sequences
TVs, transformer, two laser disc players, laser discs, crown, scepter, of scenes and camera shots can be
sword, and skull, 144 3 88 3 32 in. Nam June Paik’s portrait of altered with relative ease; sounds can
Hamlet is a video sculpture programmed with a kaleidoscopic mix of be changed or lined up with different
contemporary audio and visual technology. Courtesy Carl Solway Gallery, scenes; and the viewer’s experience of
time can be generally manipulated. Spe-
Cincinnati, OH, from the collection of The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA. Photograph cial effects can also be added (like snow
patterns, lighting changes, or altered
by Chris Gomien. colors) and computer-generated images
(CGI) can be seamlessly inserted onto
palm of a hand, a severed hand in the students, home users, and profession- shots of real objects and people—all of
street. As illustrated by the still frame als could view, produce, and create which may add emotional emphasis or
in figure 9.17, these images were meant films. place focus on a particular idea.
to provoke, shock, and horrify, keep-
ing with the spirit of the Surrealists’ With the development of the com- The motion-picture or video cam-
revolution. puter, new technology has engendered era in the hands of a creative person
a transformation of the entire film can lead to fantastic developments. In
As the cost of filmmaking equip- industry. Today, a film can be pro- The Matrix (1999), directors Larry and
ment came down, the potential for duced digitally from start to finish. Andy Wachowski used an updated ver-
film as a personal art medium was Compact cameras can record both still sion of Muybridge’s approach (see fig.
greatly enhanced. In the 1960s, East- and moving images as digital infor- 9.14) by setting up dozens of still cam-
man Kodak introduced 8-mm film, and mation on a memory chip. When the eras to capture a unique slow-motion,
portable cameras that used 8-mm film images are transported to a computer, rotating action shot (fig. 9.18). Artists
were soon available. More recently, the they may be easily altered and saved like Andy Warhol, working with tra-
introduction of high-definition digital in many formats. Computers also pro- ditional fixed-camera positions, have
cameras, projectors, and other equip- vide access to editing programs that used motion pictures to study reality
ment has provided an affordable means allow the creation of quality images in a new way by presenting everyday
by which artists, designers, teachers, that were previously available only to activities such as sleeping. Brian Fridge
even challenges our understanding of
four minutes in a freezer (see fig. 6.11).
Movies like Avatar (2009) have man-
aged to fuse CGI characters with real
ones in a seamless blend of fantasy and
reality. James Cameron, the director of
Avatar, has also revolutionized film-
making by using new 3-D equipment,
offering a startling and captivating
visual experience.

Clearly, filmmaking has given indi-
vidual artists a practical means for
offering the direct action of human
thoughts and movements, and when
distributed through the Internet, TV,
theaters, and portable devices, it pro-
vides a powerful new medium for
artists to explore. Art museums and
galleries have featured installations
that incorporate TVs, LCD and plasma
monitors, and projectors, glowing
with artistic images of every imagin-
able human expression or action. This
viewing equipment can be positioned

Motion Pictures: Film and Video 271

9.20 Nam June Paik, Megatron/Matrix, 1995. Two hundred and
fifteen monitors, eight-channel color video, and two-channel sound,
12 3 33 3 2 ft. overall. This giant video/sound installation displays
an intricate matrix of changing animation and video. Laser-disc images,
controlled by computer, scroll across the screens and constantly
change sequence to reflect the “microtime” of TV: commercials,
sound bites, and news briefs. © Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington,

DC/Art Resource, NY.

9.21 Bill Viola, Going Forth by Day,
detail, installation view of “The Path”
and “The Deluge,” 2002. Video
and sound installation with seven
projectors, ten speakers, subwoofer,
seven amps, six equalizers, cables,
speakers, projector mount, and
two servers; dimensions vary with
installation. Going Forth by Day is a
video installation inspired by the Egyptian
Book of the Dead and the great fresco
paintings of the Italian Renaissance. It
comprises five panels that examine
cycles of birth, death, and rebirth.
The “panels”—actually state-of-the-art
high-definition video projections seen
directly on the walls of a space—are
approximately thirty-five minutes long
and play simultaneously on continuous
loops. The suite of works is an epic
about nature’s cycles and the flow of
time. Commissioned by the Deutsche Bank in

consultation with the Solomon R. Guggenheim

Foundation for the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin,

2004, 2004.59. Photograph by David Heald © The

Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

in various ways—in some installations, numerous performance works, along Early contact with Paik and other
screens appear as if they were paint- with rewired TVs and multimon- sound and video artists encouraged
ings, drawings, prints, or sculptures. itor sculptures in almost every pos- another artist, Bill Viola, to further
Their size and scale can range from sible arrangement—even giant walls explore the medium, creating video art-
very tiny to massive. of television sets: Information Wall in works and installations since the 1970s.
1992 featured 429 monitors; Megatron Viola has become a pioneer in the use of
The Korean-born artist Nam June in 1995 included 215 monitors with video and the exploration of the mov-
Paik is considered to be the first video eight-channel color video and two- ing image in artworks that reflect art
artist. He often synchronized video channel color video and two-channel history, spirituality, and conceptual
images and music with a live perfor- sound (fig. 9.20); and a blinking, flash- issues. The work illustrated in figure
mance. Paik also assembled video ing light show used laser beams, TV 9.21, commissioned by a museum in
screens, radios, and TVs into sculptured sets, and a waterfall at the Guggenheim Berlin, is an example of these subjects.
forms that were as much works of art in 2000. Viewers enter the space and encounter
as the videos (fig. 9.19). He produced

272 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

five image-sequences playing simulta-
neously on every wall of a large gallery.
Once inside, they stand at the center of
an image-sound world. Each panel tells
a story that is part of a larger narrative
cycle. Viewers are free to move around
and watch each panel individually or to
experience the piece as a whole.

COMPUTERS 9.22 Screenshot from World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft is an online, imaginary world that
AND MULTIMEDIA allows a player to explore and interact with fellow players in detailed 3-D landscapes. Courtesy of

Viola’s work is a good example of the Blizzard, Inc.
degree to which the computer has be-
come a tool in the field of art today. In the realistic lighting of moving scenes. Artists and designers are employed to
his case, the computer undoubtedly What resulted are now common effects dream up new, alien worlds and exe-
aided during the planning phase, the seen in films and advertisements, such cute them using the latest computer
scriptwriting, the editing of audiovisu- as the penetration, melting away, or software programs. One such game,
als, and the control of the presentation. shape changing (morphing) of objects. World of Warcraft, makes its world
But we do not call it “computer art” as This development and improvement of available through the Internet, so any-
such. computer graphics during the past gen- body who can go online can enter the
eration rivals or even exceeds in scope environment. The designers of these
Computer art can be traced back to the transformation of painting during worlds need to have a total grasp of
1962, when Ivan Sutherland intro- the Italian Renaissance. the elements of art to create believable
duced Sketchpad, a computer-based and aesthetically beautiful landscapes
drawing program utilizing a light pen In its early stages, computer art (fig. 9.22).
and a mainframe computer. During was looked down on as the hobby of
the course of the 1960s, other computer technicians. But the boundaries of sci- Indeed, computers have opened
scientists—engineers and mathemati- ence, technology, entertainment, and a new era of multimedia for com-
cians—demonstrated various prop- art are blurring, and now more artists munications, information gathering,
erties of computer programming by are engaging in computer art. Video processing, education, and entertain-
creating drawings using the computer games are a great example of this cross- ment—and they are changing the world
in conjunction with ink plotters and disciplinary approach. Although video like nothing before them. Not only
other printing devices. George Nees’s games are meant to be entertainment, a do computers provide users access to
1965 show in Stuttgart of his computer- great deal of artistic input is necessary an unlimited supply of information
generated drawings is often credited to create the highly complex and realis- and entertainment, they function as
with being the first exhibition of “com- tic worlds that serve as a game’s setting. tools for creative artistic development.
puter art.” A 1968 exhibition in London
titled “Cybernetic Serendipity” is con-
sidered to be the first to draw wide-
spread international attention to the
potentials of computer-based applica-
tions in art.

After the introduction of the per-
sonal computer around 1979, the focus
of computer art shifted from printed
output to the animation of graphics
onscreen. In order to represent 3-D per-
spective realistically in films, hardware
and software developers had to find
ways to achieve high resolution and

Computers and Multimedia 273

Computers allow extremely complex point of view. Now, because of con- 9.23 Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his Los
multimedia works to be created and cepts made possible by the computer, Angeles Philharmonic orchestra as soprano
executed. First, as its name suggests, artists are able to create images never Christine Brewer performs The Tristan
multimedia combines many different possible before. Artists now have the Project, under a projected video by artist Bill
groups of media—such as text, still and capability to enter an image and con- Viola, at Avery Fisher Hall in New York,
moving graphics (animation), and spo- trol the exploration within that space— May 2, 2007. The Tristan Project was a true
ken and instrumental sounds—into a flying over, around, and through collaboration between the arts, uniting music,
single unifying force. Second, multime- objects on command. Images can also video, and theater. The work focuses on the
dia may be integrated with the commu- be created in real time and real space. essential nature of myth, extending Richard
nication technologies of television, cell These concepts have become commer- Wagner’s original intentions into a more
phones, tablet devices, Internet, film, cially viable, being adopted for training abstract exploration of metaphysical concepts.
and video. Because computers have films and video games and for specific The marriage of the artistic mediums sought to
become powerful enough to process applications like medical diagnostic give the audience a transcendent experience
almost any type of data, there seems to imaging and architectural design. Cli- beyond words. Richard Termine/Lincoln Center for the
be no limit to their uses; endless groups ents can take a virtual tour of a pro-
of software programs exist, many of spective new home; they can move Performing Arts/AP Images.
which are quite user friendly and avail- freely about in the structure, to see it
able for ready use by artists and design- and all the furnishings from every pos- are well-embedded in artistic practice,
ers. Some of the most frequently used sible angle—even rearrange the con- and the digital workbench has become
software programs include paint pro- tents of the space. With this technology, a key ingredient in how modern art is
grams (drawing and painting), image artists can turn over to the audience the made.
manipulation, 3-D modeling, anima- controls for experiencing a work of art.
tion, audio editing and authoring, and THREE-DIMENSIONAL
digital video (motion sequences). Many Today, image manipulation and APPLICATIONS OF
artists create their own software so 3-D modeling are commonplace, and TIME AND MOTION
that they can control the most implicit new ideas about Web space, real time,
specialized areas. Some programs are and virtual reality are starting to take As we have seen, the contemplation
even made to accept feedback from the hold. For artists around the world, the of time and motion has been an im-
spectator, which then alters the projec- use of technology and the computer portant concept for two-dimensional
tion of sound and visual information artists. Artists have developed many
to allow the viewer to directly interact methods to make a viewer feel the ef-
with the artwork. fects of time and motion, from creating
areas of visual interest to using motion
Multimedia, because it involves pictures. Nevertheless, in 2-D works,
combinations of various art forms, nat- time and motion are only artificial
urally leads to collaboration between constructs, approximating our expe-
artists of different disciplines. For riences in real life. In contrast, three-
example, artist Bill Viola, theater direc- dimensional artists must deal with
tor Peter Sellars, and conductor Esa- time and motion in a very real way. In
Pekka Salonen worked together to a plastic work, the viewer is enticed to
produce a video-enhanced production move about the piece, constantly being
of Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan und drawn from one set of relationships to
Isolde. Viola created images that pro- the next.
jected throughout a staged four-hour
performance, synchronizing the video
to the music. Through their collabora-
tive efforts, the work, called The Tristan
Project, offered a new way of listening
to and looking at the notion of eternal
love (fig. 9.23).

For centuries, the work of art-
ists was flat and restricted to a single

274 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

9.24 Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of 9.25 Renato Bertelli, Continuous Profile of 9.26 Dan Collins, Of More Than Two Minds,
Continuity in Space, 1913. Bronze (cast 1931), Mussolini, 1933 (later manufactured by Ditta 1994. Three-dimensional laser digitizing, cast
437⁄8 3 347⁄8 3 153⁄4 in. (111.4 3 88.6 3 Effeffe, Milan, with Mussolini’s approval). hydrocal from CNC wax original, 33⁄4 3 35⁄8
40 cm). Boccioni was a leading founder and Bronzed terra-cotta, 113⁄4 in. high 3 9 in. 3 21⁄2 in. Though inspired by timeless concepts
member of the Futurist group. An accomplished in diameter (29.8 cm. high 3 22.9 cm in of the body in motion, current technology
painter and sculptor, he was preoccupied for diameter). Bertelli, following the influence has opened new means of exploration and
much of his career with the dynamics of move- of the Futurists, explored the concepts of expression. Courtesy of the artist.
ment. Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. (231.1948) simultaneity and continuous movement in
portraiture. Mussolini recognized the appeal
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. U.S.A. Digital to “modernity” and organized the mass
distribution of the sculpture. Courtesy of The
image © The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art
Mitchell Wolfson Jr. Collection, The Wolfsonian–Florida
Resource, NY.
International University, Miami Beach, Florida. Photograph by

Bruce White.

Some sculptures also create the work by the Futurist artist Umberto the case of kinetic sculpture, the art-
illusion of movement. In those cases Boccioni, movement is implied by the work itself, not the observer, moves.
we have implied motion. In an early shape and directionality of the faceted Mobiles, for example, present a con-
attempt to add movement to otherwise planes that make up this abstracted stantly changing, almost infinite series
static figures, Greek sculptors orga- figure (fig. 9.24). The sculptures shown of views (see figs. 2.7 and 2.70). Water,
nized the lines in the draperies of their in figures 9.25 and 9.26 are even able wind currents, motors, and vibrating
figures to accent a continuous flowing to capture the energy of blurred and or rotating pedestals can all provide
direction. By following these linear superimposed images found in two- a source of movement for work. With
accents, the eye of the observer read- dimensional artwork. José de Rivera’s Construction 8, the
ily moves smoothly over the figure’s work rotates on its base, and time is
surface. The stance or position of the While implied motion can be a planned element. The viewer must
subject can also produce an expectation understood rather quickly, some three- wait for the piece to assume its origi-
of movement. For example, the viewer dimensional works employ actual nal orientation in order to experience
can feel Ernst Barlach’s figure The motion that is distinctive and requires all the compositional aspects of the
Avenger charging through space, about a viewer to observe for a specific work (see fig. 3.31). In the work of
to deliver a blow with the uplifted amount of time. In some works, the Calder and de Rivera, there is a feel-
sword (see fig. 2.69). In Unique Forms amount of time is very short, perhaps ing of spontaneity and unpredictabil-
of Continuity in Space, a sculptural a few seconds; in others it can be ity, which is even further developed in
very long, possibly even decades. In

Three-Dimensional Applications of Time and Motion 275

9.27 Jean Tinguely, Homage to New York,
1960. Scrap metal, bicycle parts (eighty bicycle,
tricycle, and baby-carriage wheels), washing
machine drum, bathtub, piano, several electric
fans, old Addressograph, baby bassinet, bells,
car horn, playing cards, American flag scraps,
many bottles of chemical stinks, apparatus to
make smoke, fire extinguishers, orange meteo-
rological sounding balloon, radio, oil canister,
hammer, and saw—all powered by fifteen
engines—8 m high. Time and motion were
definite composites in this piece. Constructed of
wheels, pulleys, and motors, the work was de-
signed to self-destruct over a period of twenty-
seven minutes in homage to the energy of a
city that keeps rebuilding itself. Courtesy of Museum

Tinguely. Photo: David Gahr.

9.28 Arthur Ganson, Machine with Chair (time-lapse photograph of 1995 version), 1995. Steel
(machine), fiberglass over foam (chair), motor, electronic switches and circuits, rubber; track
30 ft. long, machine 5 ft. high, chair at highest point 13 ft. from track. Like Jean Tinguely, Arthur
Ganson has found the machine to be an instrument for the poet/artist. He produces some machine-
driven sculptures that involve kinetic ironies, mechanical awareness, and a sense of time, space, and
motion. Arthur Ganson is a sculptor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Photograph by Henry Groskinsky.

the work of artists like Jean Tinguely like Arthur Ganson use time-lapse (see fig. 6.22), so too are the boundar-
(fig. 9.27), whose work was planned photography to record the duration, ies between sculpture-in-the round
to be presented as it self-destructed— path, and energy of the presentation and multimedia presentations. As art-
flying apart in all directions. In some (fig. 9.28). ists create installations that combine
cases, the memory of the event by those audio, computer-generated animation,
who were present is the only record Just as the boundaries between and sculptural constructions in self-
of the work’s existence. Other artists sculpture and painting are blurred directed interactive experiences, the
by artists working with assemblages

276 C HAPTER 9 Time and Motion

9.29 Closing Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium, August 24, 2008, Beijing, China. The closing ceremony for
the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was a performance created through the collaborative efforts of several artists. Combining music, light shows, dance
choreography, and fireworks, the artists played with both time and motion in the event. The ephemeral nature of the ceremony created a sense of
wonder among the spectators: this was a special moment in time. © Victor Fraile/Corbis.

viewer must spend a somewhat desig- interpret them according to their indi- typing, laser definition, or holographic
nated amount of time experiencing the vidual experiences. It is reasonable imaging—artists must learn to use time
work—listening, watching, exploring, to assume that even more revolu- as a tool in establishing appropriate
interacting. In the process, the viewer tionary concepts will emerge in time, levels of emphasis within the work,
may change position, and the work producing great changes in art styles. providing spatial harmonies among the
may physically move. In addition, The important point to remember compositional elements, and develop-
the sense of time may be altered even is that distortions and unfamiliar forms ing sufficient contrasts within the work
though there is real-time interaction. of art expression do not occur in a vac- to maintain visual interest. By these
uum; they usually represent earnest means, the human scene—in whatever
The exploration of space in terms of efforts to comprehend and interpret our way it may evolve in time, space, and
the four-dimensional space-time con- world in terms of the latest frontiers of action—will become an inspiration for
tinuum is in its infancy. As technology understanding (fig. 9.29). study and creativity in many exciting
advances and research reveals more forms.
of the mysteries of the natural world, Regardless of what technologies the
artists will continue to absorb and future may present—be it rapid proto-

Three-Dimensional Applications of Time and Motion 277

A FA TViEsuRal TIimMelAineGofE S

Artistic and Stylistic Comparisons

“The arts have a development which comes not only from the individual,
but also from an accumulated strength, the civilization which precedes us.”

— Henri Matisse, 1936 *

TIMELINE “After Images” presents a visual and students’ attention and encourage in Allegory on the Theme of Prudence
historical timeline of art with thumb- them to become engaged with the (c. 1565–1570), and then compare
nails of works of art that illustrate images first, unburdened by a lot of that to the American modernist Ben
particular styles and side-by-side text. Second, the timeline attempts to Shahn’s After Titian (1959), they will
comparisons that allow students to employ visual learning by piquing immediately see how the modern
make historical connections. The title students’ curiosity about the connec- artist transformed, reduced, and
“After Images” comes from the fairly tions they see so that they will want abstracted Titian’s form, line, shape,
common practice among artists to to study the text more and begin their value, texture, and so on. Students
title their works as “after” the work own research projects. will see Titan’s original naturalis-
of another artist, such as Picasso’s tic and modeled rendering of three
Portrait of a Painter, after El Greco, The side-by-side comparisons human faces and three animal heads
1950. Many of the works of art in the should aid in making memorable next to Shahn’s stylized and flat-
timeline follow this description and associations between periods of tened space, where the background
were selected because of the direct Western art history via clear visual and foreground elements merge into
visual connections between them. connections of form, line, shape, a composition of colors. The change
value, texture, color, space, and so from one style to the other teaches
Students studying art are often on. For example, when students students about those concepts and
visual learners, and this timeline taps study closely how these fundamental those two different periods efficiently
into that learning style. The intent art elements were used by a Renais- and effectively.
of the image comparisons is to grab sance “old master,” such as Titian

VOCABULARY OF CONTENT AND STYLE

Abstract Expressionism An American Color Field An abstract style of painting Cubism The name given to the painting
art movement that grew out of Surrealism following Abstract Expressionism that is style invented by Pablo Picasso and
in the mid- to late-twentieth century, with characterized by a canvas with areas of solid Georges Braque between 1907 and
an emphasis on spontaneity or subcon- colors. 1912, which incorporates multiple views
scious creation. of objects to simulate their three-
Conceptual Art Art that focuses on dimensionality while acknowledging the
Action painting A term coined by a concept or idea over materials and two-dimensional surface of the picture
Harold Rosenberg to describe a subgroup aesthetics. plane. Signaling the beginning of abstract
of Abstract Expressionist painters who art, Cubism is a semiabstract style that
worked with gestural lines, movements, Constructivism A movement, founded continued a trend away from representa-
and sometimes rapid and fluid image con- by Vladimir Tatlin between 1913 and tional art initiated by Cézanne in the late
structions as opposed to large blocks or 1922, associated primarily with three- 1800s.
“fields” of pure color as with the Color dimensional spatial concepts in sculpture
Field painters. and architecture. Dadaism The earliest style of Fantastic Art
to appear in the 1900s that opened modern
Classicism A reference to ancient content The expression, essential art to a new freedom of humorous expres-
Greek and Roman civilizations, but also any meaning, significance, or aesthetic value sion, creative imagination, contradictory
art that encompasses or stresses order, of a work of art. tendencies, and intentional provocation.
balance, and unity.

278 *Henri MCahtisrsoe,n“oSltoatgeimceanl tsOtouTtléirniaedeo,”f 1W936e, isnteArrtninATrhteory 1900–2000, eds. Charles Harrison and Paul J. Wood (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), p. 384.

Environmental Art Art that deals with non-objective abstraction in the early Pop Art The term stands for “popular TIMELINE
the natural environment but can also be twentieth century. Minimalism relied only art,” which was prompted by the dissatisfac-
applied to historical, political, and social on the basic elements for meaning— tion of younger artists with their position or
contexts of a particular environment. without any trace of the artistic process. prospects in relation to the dominance of
Environmental Art usually addresses issues abstract art.
of natural phenomena and environmen- Naturalism The approach to art that
tal awareness and uses natural materials attempts a description of things as they Post-Impressionism A movement
that do not cause further harm to the appear in nature. Pure naturalism would started by some painters associated with
environment. contain no personal interpretation intro- Impressionism who sought a return to the
duced by the artist. structural organization of pictorial form, an
Expressionism Starting in France and increased emphasis on the picture surface
Germany around 1905, the style allowed Neoclassicism Originating in France for the sake of pictorial unity and the unique
young artists to paint a subject in non- in the 1700s, the style grew from the patterns and textures that might result, and
naturalistic colors in accord with their discovery of the ancient Roman ruins of a more-or-less conscious exaggeration of
feelings. It is a form of art that tries to reveal Herculaneum and Pompeii and the publi- natural appearances for emotionally sugges-
the emotional essence rather than to show cation of Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s tive effects.
external appearance or resemblance. The History of the Art of the Ancients.
Postmodernism A movement resulting
Fantastic Art A trend that occurred Neo-Expressionism The return, in the from artists’ reactions to high-modernist
at the beginning of World War II, which early 1980s, to figurative art and a more abstract art and dogma (especially to
opened up experimentation and was personalized expression. The movement Minimalism and the International Style
impelled by the war, its horrors, and a satisfied the growing appetite for recogniz- in architecture), the increasing financial
gathering sense of alienation from society able images and meaningful content by disparity between rich and poor, cynicism
in an age of technology. producing monumental dramatic figures about politics and society (some of which
with broad gestures, painted in broad resulted from the Vietnam War and
Futurism An early-twentieth-century brushstrokes. Watergate), and so forth. Resulted in the
movement in art and literature that refash- reintroduction of the human figure; decora-
ioned Cubism in light of its own desire New Realism Art that emphasized the tion; literary subjects; the appropriation of
to glorify the dynamic character of the human figure and portraiture extensively earlier artists’ styles, works, or parts thereof;
machine age. and strove for a matter-of-fact kind of the reuse of older media; and mixed tech-
verisimilitude, but without the sly humor niques along with newer methods.
Happenings A form of participatory of Pop Art.
art in which spectators, as well as artists, Post-Painterly Abstractionism Art
were engaged. It brings together the basic Op Art A form of art that is primarily on large, flat planes painted in a more tradi-
concepts of motion, time, and space. optical and highly graphic, although it can tional manner.
merge into three-dimensionality when used
Impressionism A movement of art that in paintings that include an element of relief. Realism The style of art that creates an
initiated new ideas about color, light, finish, It is an extension and modification of the impression of visual, political, and economi-
and, to a lesser degree, dynamic movement. geometric abstraction that developed in the cal actuality without going into extremes of
It became the preoccupation of early early twentieth century. detail while also attempting to relate and
modernist painters. interpret universal meanings that lie beneath
Performance Art An expanded surface appearances. As a movement, it
installations Interior or exterior settings category of participatory art that can include relates to painters like Honoré Daumier in
of media created by artists to heighten the theater, dance, music, cinema, video, and nineteenth-century France and Winslow
viewers’ awareness of the environmental computer. Homer in the United States in the 1850s.
space.
Pictorialism An especially later- representational art A type of art in
Les Fauves Artist members of the nineteenth-century to early-twentieth- which the subject is presented through the
earliest Expressionist group in France that century movement of European and visual art elements so that the observer
used unnaturally bold coloring and exag- American photographers who wanted to is reminded of actual objects. (See
geratedly distorted figures, which gave their enhance photography’s perceived lack of Naturalism and Realism.)
paintings the look of “wild beasts.” subjectivity and creativity by emphasizing a
softer-focus negative and a highly manipu- Romanticism The style of art that
Minimalism A movement that not lated print process in the darkroom. focuses on the emotional as opposed
only included art but also music, dance,
and literature and was a precedent for

After Images: A Visual TimelineChorfoAnortliosgticaal nOduSttliynleistoicf WCoemstpearrnisoAnrst 279

to the rational. The macabre, the Straight photographers A number of Surrealism A style of art, influenced by
fantastic, the stormy, and the lyrical especially early- to mid-twentieth-century Freudian psychoanalysis, that emphasizes
moods of nature, animals, and humans American photographers, often associated fantasy and is said to be revealed by the
became fit subjects for artistic expres- with the reaction against Pictorialism, who subconscious mind through the use of
sion. The style grew out of the literary wanted to locate the creativity of their automatic techniques (rubbings, doodles,
trends that affected all of eighteenth- medium within the sharp focusing and blots, cloud patterns, etc.). Originally
century Europe and gave more selective framing of the camera and within a literary movement that grew out of
emphasis to form, artists’ materials, and the unmanipulated print from the negative. Dadaism, Surrealism was established by a
processes. literary manifesto written by André Breton
style A specific artistic character or in 1924.
simultaneity A cubist technique dominant trend of form noted during
developed by Pablo Picasso that showed a period of history or during an art Symbolism A style that sought to
the structure of objects in space by portray- movement. Style also refers to the expres- achieve an ultimate reality through intuitive
ing many different facets of them at the sive use of media that gives an artwork or inward spiritual experiences of the
same time. individual character. world.

TIMELINE 35,000 B.C.E. CHWRONEOSLOTGEICRALNOUATLRINTE OF
28,000
10,000 PREHISTORIC ART (c. 35,000–3000 B.C.E.)
6000–3000
Upper Paleolithic: Late Stone Age: Stone tool industries
4000 B.C.E. Art begins: Cave painting and fertility goddesses (Europe)
3000 Mesolithic: Middle Stone Age: End of last Ice Age
2800 Neolithic: New Stone Age: Begins in the Middle East; spreads to Europe; settled agricultural
2300
2000 communities; pottery, architecture begin
1700
1600 ANCIENT ART (c. 4000 B.C.E.–146 C.E.)
1500
1100 Egyptian Art: Old Kingdom
Sumerian Art: Iraq; invention of writing
Aegean Art: Minoan I and II, Crete
Akkadian Art: Syria and Iraq
Aegean Art: Mycenaean Age, Greece; Minoan III, Crete
Babylonian Art: Syria and Iraq
Egyptian Art: New Empire
Neolithic: Ends in Europe
Aegean Art: Homeric Age, Greece, Turkey
Etruscan Art: Italy

280 Chronological Outline of Western Art

1000 Egyptian Art: Decadence TIMELINE
900 Assyrian Art: Middle East
750 Greek Art: Archaic Age, Greece and southern Italy
Etruscan Art: Northern Italy
600 Neo-Babylonian Art: Middle East
550 Achaemenid Persian Art: Iran, Middle East
470 Greek Art: Classical Age, Greece
330 Greek Art: Ptolemaic Age, Egypt
320 Greek Art: Hellenistic Age, Greece and Middle East (Seleucid Empire)
280 Roman Art: Roman Republic, Italy
140 Graeco-Roman Art: Italy to Greece and Middle East
30 B.C.E.–146 C.E. Imperial Roman Art: Italy, parts of Europe and Middle East

500 B.C.E.–400 C.E. EARLY CHRISTIAN AND MEDIEVAL ART (c. 200–1300 C.E.)
200
Migratory Period Art in Europe: Celts, Goths, Slavs, Scandinavians
330 Iranian (Persian) Art: Sassanid Empire
Late Imperial Roman Art and Early Christian Art: Italy and Europe
476 Early Byzantine Art: Centers at Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey, and part of Middle East
493 Coptic Christian Art: Egypt
570–632 Early Christian Art: Western Europe and Italy
650 Roman Art ends
760 Early Byzantine Art: Introduced at Ravenna and Venice
800 Mohammed founds Islamic religion
950 Islamic Art: Beginning in Syria, Palestine, and Iraq
1000 Carolingian Art: France, Germany, and northern Italy
Developed Byzantine Art: Middle East, Greece, Balkans, and parts of Italy
1150 Ottonian Art: Mostly in Germany
Romanesque Art: France, England, northern Spain (Moslems in southern Spain), Italy, and
Germany
Gothic Art: France, Italy, northern Spain, Germany, and England

Chronological Outline of Western Art 281

1300 RENAISSANCE ART (c. 1300–1600)
1400
NOTE: From here on, listed artists are painters unless otherwise indicted in parentheses.

Proto-Renaissance Italy: Duccio, Giotto, Pisano (sculptor)
Early Renaissance Italy: Donatello (sculptor), Masaccio, Francesca, Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi,

Brunelleschi (architect), da Vinci

1503 Renaissance/1919 Dadaism

TIMELINE T.1 Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), T.2 Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968), Replica of L. H.
Mona Lisa, 1503–06. Oil on panel, O. O. Q., 1919. Color reproduction of Mona Lisa altered
301⁄2 3 21 in. (76.2 3 52.5 cm). with a pencil, 8 3 5 in. Photograph © Boltin Picture Library/

The Bridgeman Art Library International. Art © 2011 Succession Marcel

Duchamp/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris.

1505 Renaissance/1927 Surrealism

T.3 Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Virgin T.4 Max Ernst (1891–1976), The Kiss (Le Baiser), 1927. Oil on
and Child with Saint Anne, c. 1510. Oil on canvas, 503⁄4 3 631⁄2 in. Photograph © The Art Archive/Peggy Guggenheim Collection
panel, 168.5 3 130 cm. Louvre, Paris, France/
Venice/Gianni Dagli Orti. Art © 2011 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP,
Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library.
Paris.

282 Chronological Outline of Western Art

1500 Early Northern Renaissance: Modified by vestiges of Medievalism
Netherlands: van Eyck, van der Goes, van der Weyden
France: Limbourg brothers, Fouquet
Germany: Dürer, Lochner, Moser, Witz, Pacher, Schongauer (printmaker)

High Renaissance Italy: Giorgione, Titian, Raphael, Michelangelo (sculptor), Tintoretto

1505 Renaissance/1863 Realism

T.5 Giorgione (c. 1477–1511), The Tempest, T.6 Édouard Manet (1832–1883), Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe, 1863. Oil on TIMELINE
c. 1505. Oil on canvas, 321⁄4 3 283⁄4 in. (82 3 canvas, 841⁄4 3 1061⁄4 in. (214 3 269 cm). © Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art
73 cm). Galleria dell’ Accademia, Venice, Italy/Bridgeman Art
Resource, NY.
Library, London/SuperStock.

1509 Renaissance/1857 Pictorialism

T.8 Oscar Rejlander (1813–1875), Two Ways of Life, 1857.
Albumen silver print, 16 3 31 in. Courtesy of George Eastman House,

International Museum of Photography and Film.

T.7 Raphael (1483–1520), The School of Athens, 1509–11. Fresco, size
unknown. © Scala/Art Resource, NY.

Chronological Outline of Western Art 283

High Renaissance in Western Europe (affected by Italy)
Netherlands: Bosch, Breughel
Germany: Dürer (printmaker), Grünewald
France: Master of Moulins

1515 Renaissance/1982 Postmodernism

TIMELINE T.9 Matthias Grünewald (c. 1455–1528), T.10 Jasper Johns (b. 1930), Perilous Night, 1982. Encaustic on canvas with
The Resurrection of Christ, from the objects, 67 3 96 3 5 in. Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection. Courtesy of the Board of Trustees,
Isenheim altarpiece, c. 1515 (detail). Oil
on wood, 1057⁄8 3 1207⁄8 in. © The Art National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1982. Art © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

Archive/Unterlinden Museum Colmar/Gianni Dagli Orti.

1518 Renaissance/1989 Postmodernism

T.11 Raphael (1483–1520), La Fornarina, T.12 Cindy Sherman (b. 1954), Untitled
c. 1518. Oil on panel, 33 3 23 in. © Scala/ #205, 1989. Color photograph, 531⁄2 3
401⁄4 in. Edition of six. Courtesy of the artist and
Art Resource, NY.
Metro Pictures.

284 Chronological Outline of Western Art

1565 Renaissance/1959 Modernism

T.13 Titian (c. 1488–1576), Allegory on the Theme of TIMELINE
Prudence, c. 1565–70. Oil on canvas, 76.2 3 68.6 cm.

© Image Asset Management Ltd./SuperStock, Inc.

1520 T.14 Ben Shahn (1898–1969), After Titian, 1959. Tempura
1600 on fiberboard, 531⁄2 3 301⁄2 in. Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation,

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC/Art Resource, NY. Art ©
Estate of Ben Shahn/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.

Mannerism and Early Baroque Italy
Italy: Caravaggio, Bernini (sculptor), Borromini (architect)
Spain: El Greco

BAROQUE AND ROCOCO ART (c. 1600–1800)

Baroque Art in Europe
Netherlands (Belgium, Holland): Rubens, Van Dyck, Hals
France: Poussin, Claude
Spain: Ribera, Velázquez

Chronological Outline of Western Art 285

1603 Baroque/1950 Cubism

TIMELINE T.15 El Greco (1541–1614), Portrait of Jorge T.16 Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Portrait of a Painter, after
Manuel, c. 1603. Oil on canvas, 81 3 56 cm. El Greco, 1950. Oil on wood panel, 395⁄8 3 317⁄8 in. Peter Willi/
SuperStock, Inc. Art © 2011 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS),
© Scala/Art Resource, NY.
New York.

1647 Baroque/1970 Postmodernism

T.17 Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606–1669), Susanna and the T.18 Bea Nettles (b. 1946), Suzanna . . .
Elders, 1647. Oil on mahogany panel, 30 3 36 in. Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/ Surprised, 1970. Photo emulsion on muslin,
photolinen, stitching, 28 3 35 in. Courtesy of the
Art Resource, NY.
artist.

286 Chronological Outline of Western Art

1650 Baroque/1953 Neo-Expressionism

T.19 Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), Innocent X, T.20 Francis Bacon (1909–1992), Study after TIMELINE
c. 1650. Oil on canvas, 141 3 119 cm. © Alinari/Art Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1953. Oil
on canvas, 5 3 4 ft. Bridgeman-Giraudon/Art Resource.
Resource, NY.
Art © 2011 The Estate of Francis Bacon/Artists Rights Society

(ARS), New York/DACS, London.

1656 Baroque/1960 Surrealism

T.21 Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), Las Meninas, 1656. T.22 Salvador Dalí (1904–1989), Portrait of Juan de Pareja, the Assistant
Oil on canvas, 10 ft. 5 in. 3 9 ft. 1 in. © Erich Lessing/Art to Velázquez, 1960. Oil on canvas, 291⁄4 3 343⁄4 in. (74.3 3 88.27 cm).

Resource, NY. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, gift of Mrs. John Sargent Pillsbury, Sr. © 2011 Salvador Dali,

Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Chronological Outline of Western Art 287

1656 Baroque/2005 Contemporary Portraiture

TIMELINE T.23 Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), Las Meninas, 1656.
Oil on canvas, 10 ft. 5 in. 3 9 ft. 1 in. © Erich Lessing/Art

Resource, NY.

T.24 David Hockney (b. 1937),
Self-Portrait with Charlie, 2005. Oil on
canvas, 72 3 36 in. Collection of the National

Portrait Gallery, London. Photography by Richard
Schmidt. © David Hockney.

1701 Baroque/1973 Neo-Figurative

T.25 Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), Las Meninas, 1656. T.26 Fernando Botero, After Velázquez, 1976. Oil
Oil on canvas, 10 ft. 5 in. 3 9 ft. 1 in. © Erich Lessing/Art on canvas, 76 3 621⁄2 in. Photo © Marianne Haas/CORBIS.

Resource, NY. Art © Fernando Botero. Courtesy of The Marlborough Gallery.

288 Chronological Outline of Western Art

1700 Early Colonial Art in the Americas: Primarily limners (or primitive portraitists) in English
colonies; church or cathedral art in Latin America
c. 1780
Rococo Art: Primarily France but spreads to other European countries
T.27 France: Watteau, Boucher, Chardin, Fragonard
Italy: Canaletto, Guardi, Tiepolo
England: Gainsborough, Hogarth, Reynolds TIMELINE

Colonial Arts and Early Federal Art in the United States: Copley, Stuart, West

NINETEENTH-CENTURY ART (c. 1780–1900)

Neoclassicism
France: Ingres, David (see fig. T.27)
T.27 Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of the Horatii, 1786. Oil on canvas, approx. 14 3 11 ft.
(4.27 3 3.35 m). The Louvre, Paris, France. SuperStock, Inc.
Italy: Canova (sculptor)

1814 Romanticism/1989 Feminist Postmodernism

T.28 Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867), T.29 Guerrilla Girls, Do women have to be naked to get into the Met.
La Grande Odalisque, 1814. Oil on canvas, 91 3 Museum?, 1989. Poster, 11 3 28 in. © Guerrilla Girls, Inc., www.guerrillagirls.com.
162 cm. SuperStock, Inc.

c. 1820 Romanticism
1850 France: Barye (sculptor), Delacroix, Géricault, Niépce (first permanent camera image), Daguerre
(photographic process), Rejlander (painter and photographer)
Spain: Goya
England: Turner, Fox Talbot (photographic process)
United States: Ryder

Realism and Naturalism
France: Daumier (see fig. 1.22), Courbet (see fig. 1.21), Rodin and Claudel (Romantic/Realist
sculptors)
England: Constable
United States: Eakins, Homer, Brady, Gardner, Jackson and O’Sullivan (photographers)

Chronological Outline of Western Art 289