Scale & Proportion

Artistic Principles

SCALE & PROPORTION

Scale and proportion show the relative size of one form in relation to another. Scalar relationships are often used to create illusions of depth on a two-dimensional surface, the larger form being in front of the smaller one. The scale of an object can provide a focal point or emphasis in an image. Duarte Vitoria's painting shows an extreme foreshortened view creating a dynamic composition and sense of space.  The feet are much larger than the head, giving the viewer a sense of depth. 

 

Lush, Duarte Vitoria, 2014

Scale and proportion are incremental in nature. Works of art don’t always rely on big differences in scale to make a strong visual impact. A good example of this is Michelangelo’s sculptural masterpiece ‘Pieta’ from 1499 (below). Here Mary cradles her dead son, the two figures forming a stable triangular composition. Michelangelo sculpts Mary to a slightly larger scale than the dead Christ to give the central figure more significance, both visually and psychologically.

 

Michelangelo’s Pieta, 1499, marble.
St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Licensed under GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons

When scale and proportion are greatly increased the results can be impressive, giving a work commanding space or fantastic implications. Rene Magritte’s painting, Personal Values, painted in 1952, constructs a room with objects whose proportions are so out of whack that it becomes an ironic play on how we view everyday items in our lives.

 

 

American sculptor Claes Oldenburg and his wife Coosje van Bruggen create works of common objects at enormous scales. Their installation Stake Hitch reaches a total height of over 53 feet and links two floors of the Dallas Museum of Art, installed April 23-28, 1984. As big as it is, the work retains a comic and playful character, given in part to its gigantic size.

 

Stake Hitch, 1984, Claes Thure Oldenburg ( American, 1929 ) and Coosje Van Bruggen ( American, 1942 - 2009 ), 

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX

 

Here is another example of site-specific, monumental sculpture that is playing with scale. A large gray spoon holding a cherry straddles a shallow pond, with a view of trees and city buildings in the distance -- measuring 30 by 52 by 13 feet, the cherry alone weighs, 1,199 pounds! There is a water element to the sculpture, a fountain integrated into the sculpture is designed to keep the cherry gleaming in the light. Imagine what it would be like to encounter this during a stroll through the park!

 

 

Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, Spoon Bridge and Cherry, 1988 Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Minneapolis, Minnesota.