GEOMETRY IN ART
CARLO FIORENTINI's
Phi DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS
My Younger Parents
My Younger Parents
The photographs were taken for the paintings were from very different ages, my dad was about seventeen, my mom was in her early thirties, even so, they matched quite well.
A Brothers' Karamazov Ensemble
A Brothers' Karamazov Ensemble
Each character in it's own Phi sequence ensembled in a 30"x30" canvas.
The Karamazov brothers are characterized from photos of my family members in an attempt of providing a connection of familiar features or actually shared genes.
Therefeore, from top left, Smerdiakov is represented by my grandfather Adelmo Brazzi in a photo taken when he was 19/20 years old. The two ladies toward the right are Grushenka, from a photo of our friend Natalia B. at approximately age 40, then my wife Nina, featuring Katerina Ivanova from a picture taken at 33. Next, my father Franco at 17, features Alyosha, the priest.
On the bottom left, I am the Karamazovs' father from a picture taken around 65, and next is Dmitri, also myself at 36, next to Ivan, represented by my uncle Rossano at around 30 years old.
Oil on canvas
30 x 30 inches
September/October 2023
Alchemist 1
Alchemist 1
Semi-figurative composition based upon a Phi sequence.
An alchemist in his shop
Oil on canvas
20 x 16 inches
January2023
G,Monet & Nina
G,Monet & Nina
Lights
Lights
Composition: Abstraction in Phi
Story: Lights represent glimpses, perception, consciousness, or understanding of segments of the universe--the immense, mysterious background--in which we are immersed.
Media: Oil on board-mounted craft paper
Size in mm: 610 X 610 appr(24" x 24")
Frame: Yes
Year: 1993 - 2019
Private collection
Where The Odyssey Ends
Where The Odyssey Ends
Composition: The end of Odysseus' trek is allegorized in a chessgame setting. Phi sequence in mm: 505, 312, 193, 119, 74, 45, 29, 18, 11, 7
Story: Each day, each trip, each endeavor may resemble a trek sprinkled with adventure and challenges, alike Ulysses' Odyssey. Home is the objective...
Media: Oil on board-mounted fabric.
Size in mm: 405h x 505 appr(16"x20")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2018
Prices: consult with artist.
First Prize at Mercer County Senior Art Show, July 2019
Second Prize Senior Exhibit 2019, State of New Jersey
The previous version has undergone further fragmentation and pigmentation on October 2018
Study on "Maternity"
Study on "Maternity"
Composition: Fibonacci grid 8 x 5 square units - circles and straight lines.
Story: Geometric expression of "Maternity"
Media: Oil on canvas
Stage of development: Study
Dialog 1
Dialog 1
Composition: Phi sequence of measurements. PHI spirals, circles and lines.
Story: Dialog between geometry and color. Each spiral band or circle was assigned a hue: yellow, orange, red, violet and blue. Further, where the spiral bands and circles intersect the triangle, their corresponding hue is saturated; whereas, outside the triangle, hues are desaturated.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size (with edges): 30" x 20"
DQ Sets Foot (On the World)
DQ Sets Foot (On the World)
Composition: Phi representation of episode from Jose Herndez Saavedra's epic poem Don Quijote de la Mancha. The image of DQ and his horse, Rocinante, were added to a 1994 painting titled "Warm Day Celebration". The "warm day" was joined by Don Quijote in 2019.
Story: Don Quijote--his mind set for a quest to mend the evils of the World--starts his adventure under the hot sun of La Mancha.
Media: Oil on board mounted burlap.
Size in mm: 980 x 610 approx(38" x 24")
Frame: Yes
Year: 1994 - 2019
Price: consult with artist.
Ponchos
Ponchos
Composition: Phi-proportioned representation of episode from Argentinean gauchos' epic poem "The Return of Martin Fierro" by Jose Hernandez.
Story: Martin Fierro, already in advanced age, enters a pulperia (saloon) and casually meets his two sons, together with the son of his deceased friend Cruz and the son of a black gaucho, whom he, Martin Fierro, had killed in a duel many years earlier. The occasion turns favorable for Martin Fierro to make peace and convey savvy guidance to the young gauchos.
Media: Oil on canvas
Size in MM: 1220h x 710w appr (48"x28")
Year: 2019 (April)
Chessgame
Chessgame
Composition: Phi grid - vertical, horizontal, diagonal and circles at intersections.
Story: Chess game-like reenaction of forms of life coexisting in any imaginary era, but still featuring particular traits, such as, size, speed, ingenuity, superiority or whatever they can muster and develop to preserve existence.
Media: oil on board-mounted burlap.
Size in mm: 75 h x 1220 appr(29" x 48")
Years: circa 1994/ revisited/restaurated 2017
Original: private collection
Composition: Found Objects interpret "Memories". Phi measurements.
Story: A piece of driftwood recovered from the Red Sea--formerly a ship in this role, remembers his buddy creator--interpreted by an old hand-drill--and viceversa.
Media: Found objects: driftwood and drill, mounted on oil painted canvas-on-board. Wood, plexiglass and metal pieces
Size of box in mm (approx.): 621 x 400 x 110 (24.5"x16"x4.5)
Year: 2017 - summer
Price: consult with artist.
Memories of Each Other
Memories of Each Other
Parodychord-2-2
Parodychord-2-2
Construction
Construction
Detail 3-D geometry
Detail 3-D geometry
On Stand
On Stand
Concept
Concept
Composition: Make-believe musical instrument. Phi proportions.
Story: A mathematically conceived lie, to remind us that deception may be disgused in scientific appearance.
Media: Wallnut, wallnut lined pine-wood mounted on cedar stand. Metal nad plexiglass parts.
Size in mm: 1025 x 466 x 288 appr(40"x18"x11")
Price: consult with artist.
Velazquez's Drunkards in Phi
Velazquez's Drunkards in Phi
Composition: Interpretation of The Triumph of Bacchus or The Drunkards of Diego Velazquez on a Phi grid. sequence, in mm: 898, 555, 343, 212, 131, 81, 50, 31, 19, 12, 7
Story: In Baroque literature Bacchus allegorizes temporary relief from daily ruthless reality. Wine as earthly reward that soothes people's sufferings.
Media: Oil on board-mounted burlap, primed.
Size in mm: 898w x 636h appr(35"x25"), slightly off in proportion from the original which is mm 2250 x 1650
Frame: Yes
Year: 2016
Prices: consult with artist.
Original -
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence
Story: Interpretation of Rembrandt's Night Watch recomposed by means of rounded up (no decimals) approximations of a Phi numerical sequence: 610, 377, 233, 144, 89, 55, 34, 21, 13, 8, 5, in millimeters.
Media: Oil on board-mounted fabric.
Size in mm: 610 x 510 appr(24"x20")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2016
Price: consult with artist.
Original:
Night Watch in Phi
Night Watch in Phi
Rembrandt's characters and space are laid out with straightedge and compass, trying to recreate the scene with rounded up measures (no decimals) of the Phi sequence that starts from the width of the canvas. The model has been a print.
The main steps of the process are pictured in the smaller images.
It was probably not Rembrandt's intent that of applying a Phi 1.618 sequence, at least, not as profusely as it has been in this reinterpretation, however, quoting an olden Greek saying, "there is no beauty without proportion...." Check it out by yourself.
DQ Hits The Fan
DQ Hits The Fan
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence. Spanish Classical literature. Phi sequencein mm: 610, 377, 233, 144, 89, 55,.34, 21, 13, 8, 5. The highest integers from rounded-up Phi sequence results, the lower, from subtraction in Fibobacci fashion.
Story: Alike my previous Phi abstraction painted in 2011, legendary character Don Quixote experiences a clash with reality, in company of his semi-skeptical "page" Sancho, under the scorchng sun of La Mancha.
Media: Oil on board-mounted fabric.
Size in mm: 610h x 420 appr(24"x16")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2016
Prices: consult with artist.
Original -
This painting is composed - similar to the rest in this collection - by means of geometric relations. Lines and curves are combined to suggest the figures of Don Quijote riding his horse, Sancho on his mule, the windmills, the sun, desert and sky. The only colors used are French Ultramarine, Burnt Siena and White; sufficient to represent volumes and background.
Cubist? Maybe to some extent.
Suspects of Conspiracy
Suspects of Conspiracy
Composition: Two female nude figures (dancers or suspected witches) and one lute player developed on a modified Phi grid, in mm: 400, 247, 153, 94, 59, 35, 24, 11
The fourth measure, 94, is added latterally resulting in a 400 x 341 layout.
Story: The unconventional is often made - unfairly - a subject of suspicion.
Media: Oil on stretched canvas
Size in mm: 405 x 355 appr(16"x14")
Price: consult with artist.
Original:
Ginevra Plays Vitruviola
Ginevra Plays Vitruviola
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence
Story: Leonardo Da Vinci's Ginevra de Banci observes us from the Fifteenth Century while playing a stylized viola-da-gamba, herein renamed Vitruviola in honor of its geometric nature. The sequence: 800, 495, 306, 189, 117, 72, 45, 27, 18,
Media: Oil on board-mounted, lackered burlap.
Size in mm: 805 x 600 appr(32"x24")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2016
Prices: consult with artist.
Original -
Ginevra assumes a ghostly look through geometric and spatial inconsistencies in her trip from humanistic Renaissance to remind us of the perpetuity of human virtuosity.
Botticelli's Primavera in Phi
Botticelli's Primavera in Phi
Story: Sandro Botticelli's Primavera re-staged in a geometric setting.
Media: Oil on plastered board.
Size in mm: 1220 x 755 appr(48"x30")
Frame: yes
Year: 2015 (Princeton Junction)
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Sandro Botticelli may, or may have not applied the Golden Proportion in this painting, however, like the prevous interpretation of "Rembrandt's Nightwatch in Phi", the ancient Greek principle of, "no proportion, no beauty" seems to take a lead.
The ruler and compass recreation of the scene and characters combines the classical arrangement with mathematical abstraction.
"Payada": A Deadly Contest
"Payada": A Deadly Contest
Composition: Martin Fierro, the main character in the nineteenth century poem by Jose Hernandez, an epic about the Argentinean gauchos, is engaged in a "Payada" (improvised, usually rhymed, sang competition in which each contestant tries to outsmart the other). The composition is structured on a Phi sequence, in mm: 465, 287, 178, 110, 68, 42, 26, 16, 10, 6.
Story: Martin Fierro engages in a Payada with the Black Gaucho, this time ending with their blades (facones) joining the contest, and the death of the latter.
Media: Oil on board-mounted burlap.
Size in mm: 465h x 345 appr(18"x14")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2016
Prices: consult with artist.
Original -
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence laid out on an existing painting. The "base" painting remains partially exposed as part of the composition. Abstract
Story: Afternoon colors in Princeton, NJ
Media: Oil on board-mounted material.
Size in mm: 1000 X600 appr(39"x24")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2015
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Princeton, NJ
Princeton, NJ
Still Life with Fruit and Wine
Still Life with Fruit and Wine
Composition: Still Life i Phi
Story: Color and geometry.
Media: Oil on board-mounted burlap
Year: 2017
Size in mm: 420x420 appr(16"x16")
Price: consult with artist.
Alas Poor Yorick in Phi
Alas Poor Yorick in Phi
Composition: Interpretation of Hamlet's Scene 5 in Phi. Sequence in mm: 510,315,195,120, 75, 45, 30, 15.
Story: "Alas poor Yorick I knew him well, Horatio: ...
Media: Oil on stretched canvas.
Size in mm: 511x 390 appr(20"x15")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2016
Prices: consult with artist.
Original -
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence
Story:Mithological fantasy--escape with Mermaids.
Media: Oil on plastered masonite board.
Size in mm: 610 x 380 appr(24"x15")
Frame: Yes
Year: 1993
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Dancing with Mermaids
Dancing with Mermaids
Sandro's Three Graces Sans Pyjamas
Sandro's Three Graces Sans Pyjamas
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence
Story: Interpretation of Sandro Botticelli's Three Graces featured in his "Primavera", recomposed on a Phi sequence, subsequently adjusted to the following measurable "Fibonacci" numbers (in millimeters): 966, 597, 369, 228, 141, 87, 54, 33, 21, 12
Media: Oil on board-mounted fabric.
Size in mm: 972 x 615 appr(38"x24")
Frame: optional floating frame - black or "copper"at
Year: 2016
Price: consult with artist.
Original:
On a first step, Phi relationships were searched amongst apparent structural lines on a print from the original. Next, the section of the painting was enclosed within the corresponding (from the first Phi findings) Golden Rectangle (Picture below). More Phi connections were sought and a draft layout was developed. The subsequent steps are depicted by the images on the left of this text.
There is a sort of abstract, "cubist" flavor in this composition, which is simply a semantics' exercise.
Composition: Phi proportion
Story: Who's first, the bird or the egg?
Media: oil on stretched burlap.
Size in mm: 610 x 610 (24" x 24")
Original: private collection
Fatbird Geometrics
Fatbird Geometrics
La Belle Ferroniere in Phi
La Belle Ferroniere in Phi
Composition: Combination of background drawn with Phi 0.168 sequence and interpretation of Leonardo's Belle Ferroniere. This is an arbitrary use of Phi, not a measurement of the Belle's portrait.
Story: La Belle Ferroniere matching curves with urban background and "Vitruvian" woman.
Media: Oil on board-mounted fabric.
Size in mm: 550 x 360 appr.(22"x14")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2015
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Leonardo's Girl
Leonardo's Girl
Composition: Combined Phi 0.168 sequences, one from an earlier painting titled "Anatomy" reproduced in the lower part of the composition - the other from the new overall size of the current painting.
Story: Leonardo's girl (Fanciulla) opens the door to bathe under the moonlight.
Media: Oil and gypsum plaster on board-mounted fabric.
Size in mm: 810 X 525 app.(32"x20")
Frame: yes
Year: 2015
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Combining popular faces with abstract Phi bodies is one of my favorite composition ways. The outcome is somewhat surrealist.
In this case the face borrowed from Da Vinci's sketch of a young girl is connected through the curve of her hair to the arm / towel of my earlier Phi abstraction named Anatomy. She has kept some of her classical air, and now looks ready to drop the towel and jump in the water...
Anatomy - 1993
Anatomy - 1993
Invitation in Phi
Invitation in Phi
Composition: Nina's half body portrait and surroundings in Phi:
Story: Invitation to play
Media: Oil on stretched canvas.
Size in mm: 400 x 300 appr (15.7"x11.8")
Frame: on order
Year: 2016
Prices: consult with artist.
Original -
The Table Protocol
The Table Protocol
Composition: Phi 0.168 layout of a "hieroglyphic-like caricature"display of characters that have controlled most societies since societies came to be. Proportion measures in milimeters: 510, 315, 194, 120, 74, 46, 28, 18, 10, 8
Story: Satirical composition featuring five prominent roles in power, from left to right: politician (a prostitute), military, priest, banker and doctor. Does not intend to be comprehensive, just conceptual...
Media: Oil on board-mounted burlap
Size in mm: 510 X415 approx(20"x16")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2015
Price:
Original - private collection.
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence. Cubist, abstract
Story: Young girls playing ball with a rythm.
Media: Oil on synthetic board.
Size in mm: 520 x 320 approx(20"x13')
Frame: yes, with glass
Year: circa 2000 (Cairo, Egypt)
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Dancers with Ball
Dancers with Ball
Pinocchio Meets the Fairy
Pinocchio Meets the Fairy
Don Quixote's Charge
Don Quixote's Charge
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence. Study.The intention is to paint a larger version.
Story: Pinocchio has been a good boy, so now he gets visited by the Fairy.
Media: Oil on commercially sold cardboard-glued fabric.
Size in mm: 295 x 195 appr (11.5"x7.7")
Frame: yes
Year: 2010 (Kiev, Ukraine)
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence. Study. Abstract, classic
Story: Under the scorching sun of La Mancha, Sancho listens to Don Quixote's instructions to charge against the windmills, seen as "giants" by his master.
Media: Oil on commercially sold cardboard-mounted fabric.
Size in mm: 450 x 350 appr(17.7"x13.8")
Frame: yes
Year: 2011 (Kiev, Ukraine)
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Musik 1, Musik 2, Musik 3
Musik 1, Musik 2, Musik 3
Three expressions of music and dance
Medium: Oil on burlap
Size in mm: 330 x 210
Composition: Figurative Abstraction
Story: Skyline of dense human settlement
Media: Oil on stretched burlap
Size in mm: 860 X 540 appr(34"x21")
Frame: Optional floating frame in black or brown
Year: 1993 - March
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Presence and Settlement
Presence and Settlement
Fishbowl Watch
Fishbowl Watch
)
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence already plotted on an existing painting from 1994. The "base" painting remains partially exposed as part of the composition.
Story: ...Cat watches fishbowl
Media: Oil on stretched burlap.
Size in mm: 610 X 610 appr (24" x 24")
Frame: Yes
Year: 1994-2015
Original : private collection
Cup of Coffee
Cup of Coffee
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence.
Story: A new dimension is drawn in the air by the steam coming off the coffe cup.
Media: Oil on stretched canvas.
Size in mm: 1160 w x 753 h appr (46" x 30")
Frame: yes
Year: 1994 - South Orange, NJ
Price: consult with artist.
Original -
Composition: Two dimensional space fragmentation with Phi 0.168 sequence
Story: A warm day for celebration: nature, blimps and sailboats share a happy moment under the sun.
Media: Oil on board mounted burlap.
Size in mm: 980 x 610 approx(38" x 24")
Frame: Yes
Year: 1994
Painting was recycled into a new theme in 2019. See "DQ Sets Foot"
Warm Day Celebration
Warm Day Celebration
Composition: Water and Light, a Phi-structured still life, sequence, in mm: 490, 303, 187, 116, 71, 44, 27, 17, 10.
Story: Water and light.
Media: Oil on board-mounted burlap.
Size in mm: 502h x 405 appr(20" x 16")
Frame: Yes
Year: 2016
Prices: consult with artist.
Original -
Water & Light
Water & Light
Pendulum
Pendulum
Composition: Geometric Abstraction
Story: A pendulum and it's counterpart.
Media: Oil on stretched canvas.
Size in mm: 760 x 520 appr(30"x20")
Frame:
Year: 1993 - January - South Orange, NJ
Private collection
Brenda
Brenda
Composition: Portrait on Phi 0.168 grid
Story: My daughterr Brenda in 1994
Media: Oil on board
Size in mm: 610 x 610 appr (24"x24")
Frame:
Year: 1994 - South Orange, NJ
Private collection
The Cage
The Cage
Tango
Tango
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence. Abstract composition
Story: Not easy to escape The Cage
Media: Oil on plastered masonite
Size in mm: 610 x 610 appr(24"x24")
Frame:
Year: 1994 - South Orange, NJ
Price: consult with artist.
Note: under restoration
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence. Abstract
Story: Tango dancers swirl through the patio.
Media: Oil on Plastered masonite.
Size in mm: 610 x 610 appr (24'x24")
Frame:
Year: 1993 - South Orange, NJ
Price: consult with artist.
Note: Needs some restoration
At Three Different Times
At Three Different Times
Composition: Two dimensional Phi 0.168 ensamble of simple geometric forms.
Story: Each present second has a lesson from the previous and a surprise for the next.
Media: Oil on plastered masonite
Size in mm: 1220 x 610 appr (48"x24")
Frame: yes
Year: 1993 - South Orange, NJ
Price: consult with artist.
Street
Street
Composition: Phi 0.168 sequence.
Story: Yuxtaposed urban images connected by a Phi grid.
Media: Oil on stretched canvas.
Size in mm: 985 x 605 appr(39"x24")
Frame:
Year: 1994 - South Orange, NJ
Price: consult with artist.
Sea and Sky
Sea and Sky