Jay Hambidge

He was a pupil at the Art Students' League in New York and of William Merritt Chase, and a thorough student of classical art. He conceived the idea that the study of arithmetic with the aid of geometrical designs was the foundation of the proportion and symmetry in Greek architecture, sculpture and ceramics.{{cite journal |last1=Blake |first1=Edwin M. |title=Dynamic Symmetry-A Criticism |journal=The Art Bulletin |date=March 1921 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=107–127 |doi=10.2307/3046381|jstor=3046381 }} Careful examination and measurements of classical buildings in Greece, among them the Parthenon, the temple of Apollo at Bassæ, of Zeus at Olympia and Athenæ at Ægina, prompted him to formulate the theory of "dynamic symmetry" as demonstrated in his works Dynamic Symmetry: The Greek Vase (1920)[https://archive.org/details/dynamicsymmetry00hambgoog Dynamic Symmetry: The Greek Vase] and The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry (1926).[https://books.google.com/books?id=VYJK2F-dh2oC The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry] It created a great deal of discussion. He found a disciple in Dr. Lacey D. Caskey, the author of Geometry of Greek Vases (1922).Bellows, George (1979). George Wesley Bellows: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints. Columbus, Ohio: Columbus Museum of Art. p. 3. {{OCLC|228660551}}.

In 1921, articles critical of Hambidge's theories were published by Edwin M. Blake in Art Bulletin, and by Rhys Carpenter in American Journal of Archaeology. Art historian Michael Quick says Blake and Carpenter "used different methods to expose the basic fallacy of Hambidge's use of his system on Greek art—that in its more complicated constructions, the system could describe any shape at all."Bellows, George, and Michael Quick (1992). The Paintings of George Bellows. Fort Worth, Tex: Amon Carter Museum. p. 94 n. 55. {{ISBN|0883600684}}. In 1979 Lee Malone said Hambidge's theories were discredited, but that they had appealed to many American artists in the early 20th century because "he was teaching precisely the things that certain artists wanted to hear, especially those who had blazed so brief a trail in observing the American scene and now found themselves displaced by the force of contemporary European trends."

He was married to the American weaver Mary Crovatt.{{cite web |title=Mary Hambidge, Weaver, Dies; Led Mountain Crafts Foundation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/16/archives/mary-hambidge-weaver-dies-led-mountain-crafts-foundation.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=17 January 2024 |date=16 September 1973}}

Dynamic symmetry is a proportioning system and natural design methodology described in Hambidge's books. The system uses dynamic rectangles, including root rectangles based on ratios such as {{radic|2}}, {{radic|3}}, {{radic|5}}, the golden ratio (φ = 1.618...), its square root ({{radic|φ}} = 1.272...), and its square (φ² = 2.618....), and the

silver ratio ($\backslash delta\_s=2.414...$).

{{cite book

|first=Jay

|last=Hambidge

|title=Dynamic Symmetry: The Greek Vase

|edition= Reprint of original Yale University Press

|publisher=Kessinger Publishing

|location=Whitefish, MT

|year=2003

|orig-year=1920

|pages=19–29

|isbn=0-7661-7679-7

|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924019526882

}}

{{cite book

|author = Matila Ghyka

|year = 1977

|title = The Geometry of Art and Life

|url = https://archive.org/details/geometryofartlif00mati

|url-access = registration

|publisher=Courier Dover Publications

|pages =[https://archive.org/details/geometryofartlif00mati/page/126 126–127]

|isbn = 9780486235424

}}

From the study of phyllotaxis and the related Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ...), Hambidge says that "a much closer representation would be obtained by a substitute series such as 118, 191, 309, 500, 809, 1309, 2118, 3427, 5545, 8972, 14517, etc. One term of this series divided into the other equals 1.6180, which is the ratio needed to explain the plant design system."Hambidge (1920) p. 159; note that his cited ratio 1.6180 is exact only for the pair 500, 809. This substitute sequence is a generalization of the Fibonacci sequence that chooses 118 and 191 as the beginning numbers to generate the rest. In fact, the standard Fibonacci sequence provides the best possible rational approximations to the golden ratio for numbers of a given size.{{clarify|date=August 2014|reason=2/1, for example, provides a worse approximation of the golden ratio than does 191/118.}}

A number of notable American and Canadian artists have used dynamic symmetry in their painting, including George Bellows (1882–1925),Bellows, George (1979). George Wesley Bellows: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints. Columbus, Ohio: Columbus Museum of Art. pp. 3–4. {{OCLC|228660551}}. Maxfield Parrish (1870–1966),Ludwig, Coy L., Diane Casella Hines, Robert Fillie, James Craig (1973). Maxfield Parrish. New York, NY: Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 142. {{ISBN|0823038971}}. The New Yorker cartoonist Helen Hokinson (1893–1949), Al Nestler (1900–1971),Nestler, Al (1966). Moods in Oils and Felt Pens. [Tustin, Calif.]: [Foster art Service]. {{ASIN|B000BJTB32}}Nestler, Al (1970). Color and Composition. Tustin, CA.: Walter T. Foster. {{ASIN|B000BJOB8W}} Kathleen Munn (1887–1974),[http://www.aci-iac.ca/kathleen-munn/significance-and-critical-issues eBook by Georgiana Uhlyarik] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122223/http://www.aci-iac.ca/kathleen-munn/significance-and-critical-issues |date=2016-03-04 }}, Canada Art Institute the children's book illustrator and author Robert McCloskey (1914–2003),McCloskey, Jane (2016). McCloskey: Art and Illustrations of Robert McCloskey, Downeast Books. and Clay Wagstaff (b. 1964).New American Paintings No. 48, p. 153. The Open Studios Press, Boston, 2003. Elizabeth Whiteley has used dynamic symmetry for works on paper.Whiteley, E. "A Process for Generating 2D paintings and Drawings from Geometric Diagrams." Journal of Mathematics and the Arts. v.2 no.1 March 2008. 20-38 pp.

File:Root rectangles Hambidge 1920.png

The application and psychology of Dynamic Symmetry in such a fast and modern medium such as photography, in particular Digital Photography, is challenging but not impossible. The Rule of Thirds has been the composition of choice for a majority of new and experienced photographers alike.{{Cite web|url=https://phlearn.com/magazine/rule-of-thirds-how-to-use-it-in-your-photography/|title=Rule of Thirds in Photography [4 Tips for Mastery]|website=PHLEARN|date=11 June 2019 |access-date=2020-03-07}} Although this method is effective, Dynamic Symmetry can be applied to compositions to create a level of in depth creativity and control over the image. According to Bob Holmes,{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertholmesphotography.com/about/index|title=Robert Holmes|website=www.robertholmesphotography.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-07}} a photographer from National Geographic, a photographer must "be responsible for everything in the frame".{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/swlh/4-tips-from-a-national-geographic-photographer-4eafbdf4c067|title=4 Tips from a National Geographic Photographer|last=Silber|first=Marc|date=2019-11-04|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2020-03-07}} Using diagonals to align subjects and the reciprocal diagonals associated to the size of the frame, one would be able to create a highly intricate work of fine art. For example, the portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz used this method to create an image,{{Cite web|url=https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2001/4/1/vanity-fair|title=VANITY FAIR {{!}} Vanity Fair {{!}} April 2001|website=Vanity Fair {{!}} The Complete Archive|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-07}} among many others, for Vanity Fair Magazine. The image correctly posed each of the models to intersect the subject with a corresponding diagonal to draw the viewer to the main idea of the photograph.

This powerful process was used regularly by French painter turned film photographer: Henri Cartier-Bresson. Using Dynamic Symmetry, Henri was able to create engaging and interesting photographs that he deemed were made with the idea of "The Decisive Moment",{{Cite book|url=https://www.artbook.com/9783869307886.html|title=Henri Cartier-Bresson The Decisive Moment ARTBOOK {{!}} D.A.P. 2015 Catalog Steidl Books Exhibition Catalogues 9783869307886}} a photographic psychology that describes "when the visual and psychological elements of people in a real life scene to spontaneously and briefly come together in perfect resonance to express the essence of that situation".{{Cite web|url=http://truecenterpublishing.com/photopsy/decisive_moment.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618194952/http://truecenterpublishing.com/photopsy/decisive_moment.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=June 18, 2013|title=Photographic Psychology: The Decisive Moment|website=truecenterpublishing.com|access-date=2020-03-08}}

• On the Divine Proportion
• Frederik Macody Lund
• Samuel Colman
• List of works designed with the golden ratio

{{Reflist}}

• {{Gutenberg author | id=24849| name=Jay Hambidge}}
• {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jay Hambidge}}
• [https://archive.org/details/ElementsOfDynamicSymmetryHambidge Elements of Dynamic Symmetry at Archive.org]
• [https://archive.org/details/dynamicsymmetry00hamb The Greek Vase at Archive.org]
• [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2579 Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926225352/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2579 |date=2007-09-26 }}
• {{NIE}}

{{Mathematical art}}

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Category:Symmetry

Category:Golden ratio

Category:Numerologists

Category:Painters from New York City

Category:19th-century American painters

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Category:1867 births

Category:1924 deaths

Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States