The Painter's Secret Geometry: A Study of Composition in Art [Hardcover]

Charles Bouleau (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 268 pages
• Publisher: Hacker Art Books (June 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878172599
• ISBN-13: 978-0878172597
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,028,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cult classic and often referenced guide to the golden rule, November 18, 2004

By 

Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Painter's Secret Geometry: A Study of Composition in Art (Hardcover)

If you got to this page then you are probably already one of the cult following of the legendary Painters Secret Geometry. I read this book in the form of an entire copy xeroxed form a library edition in the late 80s which I borrowed from another art fan. (Trust me I looked for it but it wasn't for sale anywhere) We both missed the reprint and aren't I kicking myself for it?

Basically Bouleau goes through many many master works of art and extracts the Golden mean from them. The placement of that figure, the way she is holding the vase in relation to her body - so many elements in the composition of these paintings coincide with mathematic placement its eerie. The concept of extracting Fibonacci numbers and finding geometrical patterns in art is nothing new, but here it is demonstrated over and over and much better than anecdotal evidence.

I have never understood why this book is so hard to get ahold of. It has been referenced over and over again since its original publication and was a big influence on art analysis.

Probably you already know this but this is a book you have to have if you are into art history. So the question is do you have the 350 dollars used copies are currently selling for? Trust me all library copies have been stolen by now so reprints or here are your only hope to unravel the painters secret geometry....

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Should Be Brought Back into Print!, March 23, 2008

By 

T. Campbell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Painter's Secret Geometry: A Study of Composition in Art (Hardcover)

This is the art history text we all should have had and didn't. It is the only book I have found in several years of looking into what has been printed on composition/design in the 2-D arts that actually shows the manner in which artists in a number of Greco-Roman to western traditions managed their space. It was certainly not the "I'm OK, you're OK" approach that is so common now. The great ones then, and to a certain degree even now, were very well educated in their traditions, which included mathematics, especially geometry, the application of which to image making was connected to their faith, as well as being an expression of their genius.

Bouleau's argument, in fact, does not find the "Golden Section" as the sole structural basis for space management over the centuries, but is one tool among many techniques that yielded harmonious spacial divisions that became the abstract structure of images. Though a structure might be geometric, complex or simple, artists found infinite variety in the possibilities, not infrequently of similar structures, over many centuries, styles, fashions, and traditions.

Bouleau carries his argument into the 20th century and shows that respect for geometric spacial division to establish harmony is not dead. It still works, even with completely nonrepresentational art.

This is a stunningly informative look at the visual arts in the European traditions and is the only book I have found that informs me on how the "old masters" and some contemporary masters built their paintings. Geometry was part of their art, and they KNEW their geometry. How many arts majors today are skilled in mathematics through algebra III and geometry? All too often, majoring in the arts is a code word for not doing well in the maths or disliking quantitative studies to the point of finding a major that doesn't require classes in the maths. Interestingly, one of Bouleau's geometric techniques involves ratios derived from the musical arts. Today, even, many commentators will acknowledge that musicians tend to be stronger than average in the maths. When has any reader heard such an asserion about practioners, historians, or critics of the visual arts?

It is probably a stretch to be able to apply much of this to photographing, my pet passion. What Bouleau reveals here requires deliberative time, not the quick visual assessments necessary in small format photography. But this reviewer asserts that the more a photographer knows about image structure, the more sure he or she is likely to be in using the viewfinder when the time comes.

This is an outstanding book that never should have been taken out of print. That it is says much to me about what is not taught to today's image makers, either drawing/painting, or photography.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cult classic and often referenced guide to the golden rule, December 21, 2006

By 

Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews

If you got to this page then you are probably already one of the cult following of the legendary Painters Secret Geometry. I read this book in the form of an entire copy xeroxed form a library edition in the late 80s which I borrowed from another art fan. (Trust me I looked for it but it wasn't for sale anywhere) We both missed the reprint and aren't I kicking myself for it?

Basically Bouleau goes through many many master works of art and extracts the Golden mean from them. The placement of that figure, the way she is holding the vase in relation to her body - so many elements in the composition of these paintings coincide with mathematic placement its eerie. The concept of extracting Fibonacci numbers and finding geometrical patterns in art is nothing new, but here it is demonstrated over and over and much better than anecdotal evidence.

I have never understood why this book is so hard to get ahold of. It has been referenced over and over again since its original publication and was a big influence on art analysis.

Probably you already know this but this is a book you have to have if you are into art history. So the question is do you have the 350 dollars used copies are currently selling for? Trust me all library copies have been stolen by now so reprints or here are your only hope to unravel the painters secret geometry....