Venus at Her Mirror - Diego Velázquez ART & OPTICS Margaret Wegener, Physics, University of Queensland Optical Distortion - Robert Doisneau [http://www.allposters.com/gallery] Arrows Reflected - Jeffrey Smart
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/cactusdude666/4175493029/in/photostream/] Classical Optics Modern Art
Modern Art? Modern Optics
Rainbow hologram
Natural colour, 3-D hologram [Ultimate Holography] [http://www.ultimate-holography.com/images/clown/clown.gif]
Holograms Depth phase of light wave encoded in interference pattern Recording of interference pattern requires coherent light laser Reconstruction of wave
Representational Painting & Drawing Lots of art is confined to a plane. How can it look real? Illusion of Volume The Avenue At Middelharnis - Meindert Hobbema [http://biggallery.com/art]
Holy Trinity it (detail) Masaccio [http://www.mcm.edu/academic/galileo/ars/arshtml/arstoc.html] Spring Frost - Elioth Gruner
Shadows position of light source Occlusion relative positions of objects Geometric e perspective e distant objects appear smaller ( vanishing point )
Reflections, Ben Cruachan Haughton Forest
Colour Change with Distance (Atmospheric Scattering) Cumulative effect Type Rayleigh Mie Scatterer size << λ λ/100 100λ Example gas molecules dust, smoke, water droplets Intensity λ 4 Small variation scattered with λ Scattering direction Effects All but incident light Blue sky, red sunset Range of forward directions Milkiness
Colour Electromagnetic spectrum Artist s s colour wheel Maxwell s Triangle (Chromaticity diagram) [http://www.efg2.com/lab/graphics/colors/maxwelltriangle.htm] Are different colour systems equivalent?
Colour Mixing Additive: E = E(λ 1 ) + E(λ 2 ) + Light combined non-spectral reddish purple eg: human eye Subtractive: E(λ) removed by absorption eg: pigment Averaging (spatial / temporal): Light combined in visual process
Pointillism A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte - Georges Seurat See Halliday, Resnick, Walker (6 ed.) Ch 37 The Side Show - Georges Seurat [http://www.artchive.com/artchive/s/seurat.html]
The Side Show (detail) - Georges Seurat [http://www.artchive.com/artchive/s/seurat.html]
Monet, Giverny Self-portrait (detail) Claude Monet [http://www.abcgallery.com/m/monet/monet.html]
The Japanese Bridge Claude Monet [Monet at Giverny]
How do you look after this stuff? Security Environmental protection Investigative / restorative ti processes
The Cypriot William Dobell The Cypriot (X-ray) Boy Lounging William Dobell [Brought to Light: Australian Art 1850-1965]
New Art? Laser Patterning Titaniumi
References Agoston, G.A. "Color Theory and Its application in art and design" (Springer Series in Optical Sciences) Berlin ; New York : Springer, 1979 Author had careers in chemical engineering and art. Designed to be understandable by those with no physics training. Falk, D.S., Brill, D.R., Stork, D.G. Seeing the light: optics in nature, photography, p color, vision and holography New York: Harper and Row, 1986 Halliday, D., Resnick, R., Walker, J. Fundamentals of Physics (6 ed.) New York: Wiley, 2001 Standard physics text with some examples of art discussed. See Ch 35, 37 Kemp, M. "The science of art : optical themes in western art from Brunelleschi to Seurat" New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, 1990 Nassau, K. "The physics and chemistry of color : the fifteen causes of color" New York: Wiley, 1983 Contains lots of examples and info - some advanced; accessible. Includes problems. Rossing, T.D., Chiaverina, C.J. "Light science : physics and the visual arts" New York : Springer, 1999 Includes suggestions for classroom demonstrations/experiments. Solso, R.L. Cognition and the visual arts Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1994 A New Perspective on Science and Art http://library.thinkquest.org/3257/ Contains notes on suitability of resources for US high-school students Queensland Art Gallery Information panels next to artworks, especially regarding investigation & restoration.