The most common examples of maths in art are symmetry, tessellation, size and proportion. All of which are taught at primary school level mainly as an art subject than maths.
Symmetry is almost like a reflection, commonly used to draw an exact image only flipped adjacent to the original.
Image: (https://binged.it/2fxVXar)
Tessellation is a pattern of shapes that fits together perfectly.
Image: (https://binged.it/2eOCIPv)
Size and Proportion are simply how large or small, and how many times they need to be increased or decreased in size appropriate.
Image: (https://binged.it/2f9Zlvf)
Mathematics has been used in art for thousands of year, Ancient Greek architects and sculptors used the Golden Ratio to ensure buildings like the Parthenon in Athens was pleasing to the eye and the sculpture of David adheres to strict proportions.
Renaissance portrait painters ensured that proportions of their subjects’ facial features and the size of their subjects’ heads in proportion to the rest of their body followed mathematical ratios, e.g. the Mona Lisa.
Islamic art is heavily reliant on tessellating geometric shapes and is not purely decorative but represents a spiritual vision of the world.
Earlier I mentioned the Golden Ratio, this is a famous number sequence that appears frequently in our day to day lives. It is known by some other names, such as the Golden Spiral or The Fibonacci Sequence. The Fibonacci Sequence is characterized by the fact that every number after the first two is the sum of the two preceding ones. The Rule is xn = xn-1 + xn-2.
0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657, 46368, 75025, 121393, 196418, 317811, … the list is infinite.
In art the Fibonacci Sequence can create the golden spiral.
Image: (https://binged.it/2eRQZoM)
An example of the golden ratio can be seen in a variety of famous paintings such as:
The girl with the Pear Earing
The Mona Lisa
and
The Last Supper.
What a great post. I did not know the Golden Ratio was used to build Parthenon. Great choice of picture, really shows the importance of proportion in art!