Radical Impressionist: A Mathematician Paints

  I was fortunate to be able to attend pre-opening galas for the new Vladem Contemporary Museum show on Shadow and Light here in Santa Fe.  I am not including images of the show's works here. You may see samples of the artists' works here from other references. “Shadow and Light explores in part how those new techniques allowed artists to interpret their emotional, psychological, or spiritual experiences of the Southwest,” Mark White, NMMOA executive director, said last summer.   I had a slightly different take on the exhibit; I noticed that "mathematics" was mentioned in the descriptions of the artwork a number of times ('geometry' occurs frequently also). This intrigued me (as a Mathematician, but also as an Artist).  Since light is in fact very mathematical perhaps it makes sense that we would find that the work in this exhibit referenced mathematics. I was just surprised - pleasantly surprised. And I decided to do a little research into a few of the exhibi

From:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_rectangle   According to   Wolfgang von Wersin 's   The Book of Rectangles, Spatial Law and Gestures of The Orthogons Described   (1956), a set of 12 special   orthogons   (from the Gr.   ορθος ,   orthos , "straight" [9]   and   γονια ,   gonia , "angle"; "a right angled figure", which, as a consequence, is   rectangular   and   tetragonal [10] ) has been used historically by artists, architects and calligraphers to guide the placement and interaction of elements in a design. [3] [11]   These orthogons are: [12] Square (1:1 or 1: √ 1 ) Diagon (1: √ 2 ) Hecton or sixton (1: √ 3 ) Doppelquadrat (1:2 or 1: √ 4 ) Hemiolion (2:3) Auron (the  golden rectangle , 1: φ ) Hemidiagon (1:½ √ 5 ) Penton (1: √ φ ) Trion (1:⅔ √ 3 ) Quadriagon (1:(1+ √ 2 )/2) Biauron (1:2φ) Bipenton (1:2 √ 5-2 √ 5 ) Wolfgang von Wersin's book includes an extraordinary copy of text from the year 1558 ( Renaissance ), with diagrams of se

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11239873   Artists ,  architects   and   calligraphers   for   centuries   have   used   a   set   of   templates   to   guide   the   placement   of   elements   in   their   designs .  In   1956 ,  glassware   designer ,  Wolfgang   Von   Wersin ,  referred   to   these   templates   as  " orthogons ".  His   book   was   titled ,  The   Book   of   Rectangles ,  Spatial   Law   and   Gestures   of   The   Orthogons   Described  ( Das   Buch   vom   Rechteck   Gesetz   und   Gestik   des   Raumlichen   die   Othogone - scheibe -- Die   Orthogone - scheibe ),  Otto   Maier   Verlag   Publishers ,  Ravensburg ,  West   Germany . The   most   famous   orthogon ,  the   Auron  ( Golden   Section ,  Golden   Ratio ,  Golden   Mean ,  Golden   Rectangle )  has   been   used   at   least   since   the   time   of   the   ancient   Greeks   to   design   everything   from   the   Parthenon   to   calligraphy   to   ceramic   vases . All   twel

  View on Flipping Book Santa Fe River during the Rains 8 am Initial wash in.  Note the armature marks on the panel (10x16) Detail 9 am Turbulent Waters, 10x16, oil (10 am) at the Santa Fe River