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1. Mathematics and the Visual Arts Math 102
Spring 2003
Professor Mark Schlatter
9. Goals of this class Using mathematical principles (with an emphasis on geometry),
analyze artwork
create artwork
10. Themes of this class dimension - how can artwork be described in terms of its dimensionality?
validity - when does mathematical analysis have a valid claim in interpreting art? when is it misused?
11. Logistics Syllabus
Web site
12. Proportion in portraiture The length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height.
…. from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head is one eighth of his height; ….The greatest width of the shoulders contains in itself the fourth part of man. ... The whole hand will be the tenth part of the man.
Source: The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Vol. 1 (of a 2 vol. set in paperback) pp. 182-3, Dover, ISBN 0-486-22572-0.
13. Proportion in portraiture Other sites:
The figure-drawing lab
Marc Frantz’s material on perspective and proportion
14. Practice Use this work (Self-Portrait, Between the Clock and the Bed) by Edvard Munch to test some of the proportion rules.
15. Questions What concerns would drive an artist to use these proportions?
What concerns would drive an artist to break these proportions?
Consider Edvard Munch’s The Scream
16. For next class…. Bring a ruler and graph paper.
Start the homework (due next Monday) on the web site.