Geometric

DEFINITION

Any shape or form having more mathematic than organic design. Geometric designs are typically made with straight lines or shapes from geometry, including circle, ovals, triangles, rectangles, squares, and other quadrilaterals, along with such polygons as pentagons, hexagons, etc. Examples of geometric forms include spheres, cones, cylinders, tetrahedrons, pyramids, cube and other polyhedrons. [The articles in ArtLex on these shapes and forms cite mathematical formulas helpful in their use, along with examples of works of art in which they have been used.]Examples of works in which geometry is important:Alexander (S?ndor) Bortnyik (Hungarian, 1893-1976), Geometric Forms in Space, 1923, oil on canvas, 18 1/4 x 23 5/8 inches (46.4 x 60 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY. See Hungarian art.Quote: "The Greek painter Zeuxis is known to have taken pupils in the 5th century BC, and another, Pamphilos, had a school of painting at Sikyon. It is likely that his pupils would have been instructed in drawing, geometry, symmetry and the golden section, as well as in a canon of proportion." G. Rubens: 'Art education', Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, Accessed 21 March 2005. See drawing, golden section, proportion, and symmetry.Also see abstraction, architecture, Art Deco, Bauhaus, De Stijl, ellipse, kaleidoscope, pattern, and tessellation.