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Be forewarned: to verify the subliminal motif, you MUST make a template as shown on
the Grids page.
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Yes, there is geometry embedded in the compositions of Paul Cezanne. He told Bernard there is an "invisible scaffolding" of "spheres, cones, and cylinders" "underlying nature." My study is an affirmation of this sentiment. It points to an abundance of these geometric figures, camouflaged within his paintings. (see MAPS here)
It is my belief that this covert geometry is the effective means which Cezanne used to achieve "space as notable for its depth as his volumes for their weight and massiveness," "his masses go back into space uncannily and somehow make secure a third dimension," "objects appear to form themselves before our eyes, to grow out of the surface of the pictures and dissolve themselves into it again." (see QUOTATIONS here)
Besides this "new space," there is the perception of structural order that is unaccounted for. Roger Fry wrote, "The forms are held together by some strict harmonic principle almost like that of the canon of Greek Architecture, and it is this that gives its extraordinary equilibrium to the whole design."
The consensus of the critics is that his space, volume, and classical order was achieved by the intuitive manner with which Cezanne modulated the characteristics of color: cool/warm, simultaneous and successive contrast, advancing, receding, etc. They are positive he had no formula or system.
I disagree, colors can generate harmony, but not concrete forms with weight and massiveness in three-dimensional space.
I believe the subliminal-motif, as a figure, triggers the perception of depth and volume (substantialness) in his paintings, and the matrix of figures generates the feeling of cohesive harmony. The subliminal-motif is his organizing module and specifies, to the eye of the beholder, many of the enhancements acclaimed by the critics.
In Classical Art, the shapes of objects are formed from the Pythagorean rules of simple geometric figures and proportions. The primary means to organic unit and aesthetic affect is a module/motif repeated throughout the work of art.
Historically, these simple geometric figures are visible but unnoticed. An example of this principle can be found in Leonardo's drawing of the Angel Head (see ANGEL HEAD image here)...and 400 years later in Cezanne's Mardi Gras (see MARDI GRAS image here) sketch. Both artists used an elliptical template with a 3:2 aspect ratio. The repetition of this ellipse gives the forms a quality of volume and depth that is missing in the other head by Cezanne.
Cezanne took this formal system one step further; he made the motif subliminal, hidden within the painterly style of the Impressionists. Rather than being just unnoticed, the motif is available only to preconscious processes.
He found ways of making the embedded figures effective. That is, discernible by unconscious processes but hidden from conscious vision. The Impressionist's style is the perfect method for camouflaging the ellipses, cones, and cylinders: sketchy images, loose outlines, color and tone changes, arbitrary marks, squiggly lines, washed-out lines, bare canvas patches, his "constructive" method, etc.
By flattening the image on the picture plane, he forced the visual system to search for spatial meaning (Gibson). (see REFERENCES list here) He found that if you nullify the conventional means to pictorial depth, it is possible to achieve enhanced forms with surprisingly real depth through covert means.
Without the pictorial cues of linear and aerial perspective, directional light and shading, texture gradients, and relative density the visual search would become more intense, even generating stereopsis. He did use occlusion, relative size, and height in the field, but distance would have to be constructed in the brain and mind. By keeping the pictorial cues for depth to a minimum, he achieved a flat composition. This flatness forces the mind to construct space.
My psychological explanation, as to how the subliminal-motif is operant, is eclectic. It starts with a closed neuronal system (Maturana and Varela) that generates monocular stereopsis (Schlosberg) from signifiers in the visual field which specify depth (Gibson.) In Perception Psychology and the Graphic Arts, there are only two geometric figures that can do this: biase lines (Itten) and ellipses (Johannson.)
Biased lines and elliptical arcs are significant stimuli for depth. Regularities, like them, are the building blocks for visual perception. Our visual world of objects in a spatial layout is constructed preconsciously in the dorsal stream (Milner and Goodale.) The regularities that define figure from ground are not necessarily available in the ventral percept. (see REFERENCES list here)
Subliminal figures are even more effective because they generate a stronger response (Dixon). These strong signals are reinforce by associative conditioning from real world experiences.
In the visual system, the subliminal-motif embedded in the pictorial scene specifies two geometries operating in the same place at the same time. The scene is cross-modal (Cutting,) defining the surface as planar. In contradistinction, the biase lines and elliptical arcs specify projected surfaces.
Granting that the figures specify depth and that the visual system works on geometric principles, then, the projected forms would be differentiated from the planar surface, depth-in-a-unity will generate stereopsis. (see ANAMORPHIC DRAWING image here) The subliminal-motif generates stereopsis by signifying a projected form camouflaged within a planar surface, to a moving point of reference (even eye movement.)
The specified depth must have something to attach itself to. The figures generate a figure/ground perception that is "captured" (Ramachandran) by the pictorial in which it is embedded. That is, space, like feelings, can be free floating.
My thesis is that Cezanne used a subliminal-motif matrix of biased lines and Golden Section ellipses which specify projected forms embedded in a planar surface (camouflage), generating stereopsis and visual interest in the "eye of the beholder."
Cezanne's formula is a motif/module proportioned to the aspect ratio of the canvas. His system was to covertly embed the subliminal-motifs into the painterly style of the Impressionist.
My belief, that the subliminal-motif affects perception and is an effector for Cezanne's aesthetic appeal, is supported by:
Cezanne was trained in Classical Art theory: to construct forms in nature from simple geometric figures. He took this principle into the forest and hills of the Aix valley where he grew up. There, he would see the living forms of insects, and animals camouflaged within their natural habitat, blending in, sharing shape, color, and pattern with the foliage. He conjoined the geometry of school with the camouflage of nature into a subliminal-motif, realizing the invisible scaffolding. (see MAPS here)