BALANCE

WHAT IS
BALANCE IN
ART?
BALANCE
is generally The distribution of weight evenly,
defined as: enabling someone or something to be
steady, where things exist in equal
amounts or are of equal importance.

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BALANCE 1. One of the 12 basic principles of art.
2. Refers to the distribution of elements of
IN ART art within a composition to create visual
is defined equilibrium.
as: 3. Evokes a pleasing and appealing feeling to
the viewers.
4. Commonly described as the “Visual
Weight”.

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BALANCE • Stable
IN ART • Steady
feels: • Still
• Calm
• At rest
• At ease

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HISTORY
A peek into the History of
Balance

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 HISTORY The idea of balance has been observed even in
OF prehistoric and early art forms.
BALANCE
Renaissance period
- Leonardo Da Vinci’s artworks such as the Vitruvian
Man and The Last Supper.

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 The Vitruvian Man
Leonardo Da Vinci (Renaissance Period)
Location : Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice
Dimensions : 34.4 cm x 24.5 cm
Medium : Pen, Brown ink and watercolor over metalpoint on paper

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 The Last Supper
Leonardo Da Vinci (1495-1498)
Location : Santa Maria delle Grazie
Dimensions : 4.6 m x 8.8 m
Medium : Tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic

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 !
WHY IS
BALANCE
IMPORTAN
T?
What does it mean
in Art?
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 The ⊙ It establishes order
Importance ⊙ It makes an artwork look and feel stable
of Balance in
⊙ Gives direction for the viewer
Art
⊙ Helps make the message clear

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TYPES OF
BALANCE
Total success!

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TYPES OF 1. SYMMETRICAL
BALANCE
2. ASYMMETRICAL
3. RADIAL

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 1. SYMMETRICAL BALANCE
--also known as formal balance, as two equal parts of the pictorial plane of an
TYPES OF artwork placed like mirror images of each other. The similarity is so precise
that each half is seen one and the same.
BALANCE

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TYPES OF 1. How to achieve SYMMETRICAL
BALANCE BALANCE
- placing identical elements
- centering
- repetition of elements
- drawing a line on the center

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"The Delivery of the Keys to Saint Peter”
by Pietro Perugino (1481-1482)
Location : Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome
Dimensions : 330 cm x 550 cm
Medium : Fresco
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“American Cutout of Animals”
By American 19th Century
Location : Washington, D.C., USA
Dimensions : 47.7 cm x 60.4 cm
Medium : Cut paper and watercolor
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 “Figure with Meat”
By Francis Bacon (1954)
Location : Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
Dimensions : 1.3 m x 1.22 m
Medium : Oil paint
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 “Self Portrait with Thorn
Necklace & Hummingbird”
By Frida Kahlo (1940)
Location :Harry Ransom Center,
Austin, Texas, Austin
Dimensions : 24.11 in x 18.5 cm
Medium : Oil on canvas on
masonite

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 “Portrait sculpture of a Zen Master”
By Crystal (Muromachi Period, 1392-1573)
Dimensions :  Overall (figure): H. 37 3/8 (94.9 cm); W. 22
3/8 in. (56.8 cm); D. 18 1/4 in. (46.4 cm)
Medium : Lacquer on wood with inlaid crystal eyes

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 “Taj Mahal”
By Architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori
Location : Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Area: 17 hectares
Height : 240 ft.

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 “Lotus Temple”
By Architect Fariborz Sahba and
Structural Engineer Flint & Neil COWI
Location : Delhi,India
Height : 34.27 metres
Diameter : 70 m

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 2. ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE
- Also known as informal balance, where elements on either side of a composition
do not reflect one another or when several smaller items on one side are balanced
by a large item on the other side, or smaller items are placed further away from
TYPES OF the center of the screen than larger items.

BALANCE

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TYPES OF 1. How to achieve ASYMMETRICAL
BALANCE BALANCE
- placing different elements that
contrast each other
- drawing a line on the center

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 “The Starry Night”
By Vincent Van Gogh (1889)
Location : Museum of Modern Art, New York
Dimensions : 73.7 cm x 92.1 cm
Medium ; Oil on Canvas

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“Composition with Red, Yellow,
Blue, and Black”
Piet Mondrian (1921)
Location : Kunsthaus Zurich
Dimensions : 45 cm x 45 cm
Medium : Oil on Canvas
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“Christ on the Mount of Olives”
By Paul Gauguin (1889)

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 “The Boating Party”
By Mary Cassatt (1893)
Location : National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Dimensions : 90 cm x 117.3 cm
Medium : Oil on Canvas

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 “Verde”
(Deborah Butterfield)
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 “Alexander Calder’s Mobile”
By Alexander Calder (1941)
Dimensions : assembled: 60 in. × 152 3/8
in. (152.4 × 387.1 cm)
a: 27 1/2 × 55 1/2 in., 2.7 lb. (69.9 × 141
cm, 1.2 kg)
b: 36 × 54 in., 0.9 lb. (91.4 × 137.2 cm, 0.4
kg)
Medium : Painted aluminum steel,
steel rod and wire

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“Deruta vase with asymmetric handles”
(Italy, 1935, 20th century, De Agostini)
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 3. RADIAL BALANCE
- where all elements radiate out from a center point in a circular fashion to all four

TYPES OF quadrants of the shapes constraining plane.

BALANCE

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TYPES OF 1. How to achieve RADIAL
BALANCE BALANCE
- placing different elements
identically in a circle

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 “Le Premier Disque”
Robert Delaunay (1912-1913)
Location : Private Collection
Medium : Oil on canvas

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 ”Target with Four Faces”
A
Jasper Johns (1958-1961)
Dimensions :Overall, with box
open, 33 5/8 x 26 x 3" (85.3 x
66 x 7.6 cm); canvas 26 x 26" (66 x 66
cm); box
(closed) 3 3/4 x 26 x 3 1/2" (9.5 x 66 x
8.8 cm)
Medium : Encaustic on newspaper
and cloth over canvas surmounted by
four tinted-plaster faces in wood box
with hinged front
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“Mandala Tattoo Art”
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A

"Garbhadhatu (Taizokai) Mandala (Womb

Church Ceilings
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Radial Balance in Architecture
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A

“Rose Windows”
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“Charger of Charles II in the Boscobel
Oak”
(England,Circa 1685)
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A

“Long Exposure night photography”

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“
Balance is not something you
find, you create it.

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