Gestalt
This is a German term that was established in the 20th century and forms the basis of the modern learning of perception. This theory was established by a psychologist, Max Wertheimer in 1912. It emphasizes on the idea that the whole of anything is better than its part. This is to mean that the whole is not deducible from exploration of the parts in isolation. Therefore the parts cannot be summed together so as to give description of the whole. This has an effect on the human mind by allowing the brain to generate whole forms especially with respect to the visual acknowledgement of the global figures rather than the collections of simpler parts such as points, curves or unrelated elements (Desolneux et al 2008). Art involves the diverse range of the human activities that involve creation of visuals that express the author’s creative expertise that is intended to be appreciated by those who will see it. The artist therefore uses several elements that make his drawing more aesthetic and attractive to the audience such as the use of color, depth, form and movement. These elements are considered as parts that are relatively important in any visual art. Applying the Gestalt theory therefore in art, it is quite evident that the whole brings about a better perception on the mind of the audience and these parts do not sum up to make the whole artwork (Desolneux et al 2008). This therefore enhances people to organize the various parts into forming a unified whole that people can now relate to. This paper therefore will focus on the artistic art and the effects that the art would have when one element/part is removed and later when another element is removed.
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa (1503–1517).
The Mona Lisa is an oil painting piece of art work is on a popular wood pane that is done by an Italian painter and is most popular worldwide. It was painted by Leonardo da Vinci in the 1503s and 1506s in Florence. The work is regarded as aesthetic as the sitter portrays a mysterious smile with her unproven identity that has made this piece of art fascinating and still more attractive to many who are interested in art. The oil painting involves smooth and almost imperceptible changeover from one color to the other through the use of ultra-subtle tonal gradations (Atalay 2014). This is seen in the face of the woman especially around the eyes as well as the mouth. This technique was a success and it enables the viewers to see the art better. As the artist went on to paint the painting, the impression that the painting created or creates is of great peacefulness that is enriched by a certain air of mystery. This peacefulness is evidenced by the muted color scheme of, the smoothening oil paint tonality and the coherence of the sitters pyramid shape posture and the inconspicuous drapery (Atalay 2014).
The background of the painting is a landscape that is created by use of aerial standpoint with its smoky blues and no clear defined disappeared point. This gives the painting a composition that is of important depth though the details make known a clear imbalance between the rocky vanishing point on the right and the lower lands that stretch away towards the left (Atalay 2014).
The removal of color element in the piece of art would result to the disappearance of some parts of the artwork that are important in making the picture a clear visual. For instance the removal of color may result to the absence of eyebrows and eyelashes of the woman in the painting which may bring out the wrong impression of the painting. Lack of the oil painting may result to the painting being a rough one and thus making it loose its beauty. Also the removal of color in this painting may result to the ugly look of the woman in the painting as the soft contouring face may not be visible in the absence of color. The theme of the painting on peacefulness may not be portrayed as a result of the absence of the muted color that represents the serenity of the painting. Lack of the aerial perspective in the painting will result to no distinction between the distant and closer objects for instance the lack of the smoky blue and lighter color to show the distant landscape will not differentiate those things that are far and nearer. With no depth and space in the painting, there will not be a translation of what one can see from a three dimension into a two dimension and thus there will not be a conviction of the presence of neither space nor depth in the painting. This therefore will make the painting less interesting and it will not have a meaning in the mind of the viewer hence the painting will be regarded as a weaker painting.
References
Atalay, B. (2014). Math and the Mona Lisa: The art and science of Leonardo da Vinci.
Desolneux, A., Moisan, L., & Morel, J.-M. (2008). From Gestalt theory to image analysis: A probabilistic approach. New York, NY: Springer.
