Prince Matila Ghyka, The Geomerty of Art and Life & capricious fame

In his home country of Romania and among mathematicians fascinated by geometry Prince Matila Ghyka, (1881-1967) is still respected.  Ghyka's work "The Geometry of Art and Life" should be well known by all visual artists, architects and designers interested in understanding the foundations of composition and design.  It should be the seminal textbook for visual artists, designers and architects.  Yet it has been out of print for decades.  There have been several recent books about geometry and design but none that I am aware of are in Ghyka's league.

In a sense Ghyka was before his time, in that current publishing techniques and styles would have made full color illustrations automatic, in the original small text they are black and white line drawings leaving a great deal to the imagination (which was great for me).  Plus today there would be a layman's explanation of techniques, and the algebraic formulas.  Imagine Hawking's "The Universe in a Nutshell" on geometry.  It would be a beautiful book.

Still the original is wonderful, partially in that it is so little known, like a secret set of formula's not taught in class, but passed on from one finishing grad. student to a newbie with potential (which is how I got my first copy).  Thank you Mike Ruble wherever you are now.  That book sent me into a terrible interior conflict which I struggled with on and off for a couple of decades.  Should I emphasize geometry and systems, should I bury them in my work, should I ignore them, will using these concepts turn my work into a simple set of formula's and kill the creative spirit, will I loose the passionate spark???  Through this struggle I learned the flexibility and utility of geometry as a foundation for creativity, and as a source of inspiration.

If you truthfully want to understand what makes something visually compelling for centuries, not just sensational for a season, find a copy of Ghyka's book and study it carefully.  It contains all of the secret codes of design.  Once you understand them, you can apply them any way you see fit.
http://alsbach-art.com/gallery/4299/GOLDEN+SECTION
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