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Painting1; Assignment 4: Looking Out; Research Point “Golden Mean”

The Golden ratio, Golden Section or the Golden Mean is the mathematical term and indicates a ratio of approximately 1 to 1.618. There is a belief that any designs and artworks are aesthetically more pleasing, i.e. more balance and harmony are achieved, if this mathematical approach has been followed by the creator. The concept of Golden Mean has been around for thousands years and the brief history of it is below:

  • The Panthéon statues in Greece (490-430 BC) created by Phidias seemed to be made in accordance with the golden ratio;
  • The first definition of the golden ratio was formulated by Euclid (325-265 BC) in his mathematics Elements book as « extreme and mean ratio »;
  • The famous Fibonacci Sequence was developed by Fibonacci (1170-1250);
  • Luca Pacioli (1455-1517) brings the notion of his Divina Proportione – « Divine Proportion »; Leonardo da Vinci was a great proponent of this concept;
  • Charles Bonnet (1720-1793) noticed and described that in the spiral phyllotaxie of plantes going clockwise and counter clockwise very often were two successive Fibonacci series;
  • Martin Ohm (1792-1972) is known as to be the first who used the term « goldener schnit » to describe this ration in 1835;

Below are some famous artworks were the golden ration application is very well traced.

« The Creation of Adam », Michelangelo, 1512;


« Bridge at Courbevoie », Georges Seurat, 1887;  and « Bathers at Asnieras », Georges Seurat, 1884

« Composition in Red, Blue and Yellow, Piet Mondrian; 1930

Golden Ratio is applied in art to plan the composition, locating the weights and locate the subjects of the paintings. One technique is to use the « eyes of the rectangle » – the photo below.

Another option is to segment the painting into nine unequal section using the golden ratio of the columns as 1:0,618:1, the same for the rows.

It is important to understand that « golden ration » is just one of the tools any artist can use or not. The majority of famous paintings do not follow the golden ratio and this doesn’t ruin their magic.

However it is recommended to use this tool if you work on large canvas regardless how many large pieces you have done already.

Reference list

  1. « Using The Golden Ratio (AKA Golden Mean) To Improve Your Artworks » by Dan Scott; October 12, 2017 on http://www.drawpaintacademy.com;
  2. « See How Artists Discover Simplicity as an Art Form in Works Which Reflect the Golden Ration » by Lauren Palmer, October 2, 2015 on http://www.news.artnet.com;
  3. « Learn the Golden ratio for your artworks on canvas », October 10, 2017 http://www.ucsart.com;
  4. « How to Draw a Golden Ratio Spiral », tutorial on YouTube by Dearing Wang;

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