Line of beauty is a term and a theory in
art
Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
or
aesthetics
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...
used to describe an S-shaped curved line (a
serpentine line) appearing within an object, as the boundary line of an object, or as a virtual boundary line formed by the composition of several objects. This theory originated with
William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...
(18th-century English painter, satirist, and writer), and is an essential part of Hogarth's theory of aesthetics as described in his 1753 book ''
The Analysis of Beauty''. According to this theory, S-shaped curved lines signify liveliness and activity and excite the attention of the viewer as contrasted with straight lines, parallel lines, or right-angled intersecting lines, which signify stasis, death, or inanimate objects.
In contrast to grand compositional lines, which are regularly found in
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
or
Rococo
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
art, the serpentine line is not primarily dictating the whole composition of a canvas. Instead, the line should be understood as being found in specific subject matter, like the human figure. A composition is created by employing various kinds of lines in various relations to each other without destroying its simplicity.
Gallery
Chiasmo Contrapposto-Canone Canon policleteo (3pages)-scheme-diagram-photo Paolo Villa 2024 CC BY-SA 4.0 (and italian Law & MiC)- Doryphoros by Polykleitos, photo-scheme-diagram.pdf, Diagram S-curve form of Doryphoros by Polykleitos
File:Sign-painter-Beer Street.jpg, The line of beauty denoted on Hogarth's 1751 ''Beer Street'' sign painter.
File:Illustration from the title page of The Analysis of Beauty..jpg, An illustration from the title page of ''The Analysis of Beauty''.
See also
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S-curve (art)
Wenuszmf.jpg, The ''Venus de Milo'' statue has an S-curve form.
Chiasmo Contrapposto-Canone Canon policleteo (3pages)-scheme-diagram-photo Paolo Villa 2024 CC BY-SA 4.0 (and italian Law & MiC)- Doryphoros by Polykleitos, photo-scheme-diagram.pdf, ...
*
Ogee
An ogee ( ) is an object, element, or curve—often seen in architecture and building trades—that has a serpentine- or extended S-shape (Sigmoid curve, sigmoid). Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combination of two semicircle, semicircula ...
External links
William Hogarth's ''The Analysis of Beauty''(1772 edition)
Art Fundamentals
Aesthetic beauty
History of art
Works by William Hogarth
Concepts in aesthetics
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