Perfect Symmetry

Painting, Géométrie, René Lamoureux

Géométrie

René Lamoureux

Painting - 58 x 114 x 3 cm

$2,146

Sculpture, Palindrome, Florim Hasani

Palindrome

Florim Hasani

Sculpture - 33 x 105 x 62 cm

$5,421

Photography, Pain, Espen Rasmussen

Pain

Espen Rasmussen

Photography - 40 x 60 cm

$1,242

Painting, Golden X, Jules Engel

Golden X

Jules Engel

Painting - 30.5 x 30.5 x 0.3 cm

$2,500

Painting, Le Mont Saint Michel, Jacques Guillet

Le Mont Saint Michel

Jacques Guillet

Painting - 146 x 114 x 2 cm

$6,776

Print, Couleur additive série 14, Carlos Cruz-Diez

Couleur additive série 14

Carlos Cruz-Diez

Print - 80 x 80 cm

$73,405

Painting, The bridge, Catherine Clare

The bridge

Catherine Clare

Painting - 92 x 73 x 2.5 cm

$1,863

Photography, La forêt, Christian Lefevre

La forêt

Christian Lefevre

Photography - 72 x 128 x 0.3 cm

$1,242 $1,118

Photography, Rovinj, mirror on the Adriatic, Fabien Olart

Rovinj, mirror on the Adriatic

Fabien Olart

Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm

$565

Painting, Dance, Monika Rossa

Dance

Monika Rossa

Painting - 151 x 121 cm

$3,049

Photography, Dune de sel, Lionel le Jeune

Dune de sel

Lionel le Jeune

Photography - 70 x 105 x 0.5 cm

$960

Photography, Atlas Beetle Closed, Samuel Dejong

Atlas Beetle Closed

Samuel Dejong

Photography - 50 x 50 cm

$1,412

Photography, Hercules Beetle Open, Samuel Dejong

Hercules Beetle Open

Samuel Dejong

Photography - 50 x 50 cm

$1,412

Photography, Avalon, Barry Cawston

Avalon

Barry Cawston

Photography - 90 x 200 x 2 cm

$3,490

Painting, Sans titre, matrice 3, Baptiste Laurent

Sans titre, matrice 3

Baptiste Laurent

Painting - 107 x 161 cm

$3,027

Photography, Grande Motte Balcony, Clemente Vergara

Grande Motte Balcony

Clemente Vergara

Photography - 70 x 56 cm

$508

Sculpture, Duo world, Hayvon

Duo world

Hayvon

Sculpture - 25 x 23 x 6 cm

$316

Print, A road - vertical division, Ryszard Gieryszewski

A road - vertical division

Ryszard Gieryszewski

Print - 49 x 39.5 x 1 cm

$847

Fine Art Drawings, Espiga, Rodrigo Spinel

Espiga

Rodrigo Spinel

Fine Art Drawings - 14.8 x 21 x 0.3 cm

$400

Photography, Palazzo Grimani Male Center, Magda Von Hanau

Palazzo Grimani Male Center

Magda Von Hanau

Photography - 182.9 x 121.9 x 0.3 cm

$4,250

Painting, Sans titre, Exit serie, Baptiste Laurent

Sans titre, Exit serie

Baptiste Laurent

Painting - 108 x 108 x 0.3 cm

$2,428

Photography, River Prague 3 Diptych, Magda Von Hanau

River Prague 3 Diptych

Magda Von Hanau

Photography - 182.9 x 248.9 x 0.3 cm

$10,000

Photography, Polyptych 40, Rodrigo Etem

Polyptych 40

Rodrigo Etem

Photography - 109 x 157 x 0.3 cm

$2,500

Fine Art Drawings, Dessein 14, J/Y Delaunay-Israël

Dessein 14

J/Y Delaunay-Israël

Fine Art Drawings - 108 x 188 x 1 cm

$2,541

Photography, Mucemecum, Samzaï

Mucemecum

Samzaï

Photography - 50 x 74 x 1 cm

$486

Photography, Biocities Milano Expo # 11, Carlo D'Orta

Biocities Milano Expo # 11

Carlo D'Orta

Photography - 80 x 120 x 1 cm

$7,905

Photography, Distillerie, Lauric Gourbal

Distillerie

Lauric Gourbal

Photography - 40 x 60 x 1 cm

$360

Photography, First Light, Alexia Rousse

First Light

Alexia Rousse

Photography - 96.5 x 139.7 x 3.3 cm

$4,355

Photography, Midnight, Alexia Rousse

Midnight

Alexia Rousse

Photography - 96.5 x 139.7 x 3.3 cm

$4,355

Painting, City Night, Tharwet Kamoun

City Night

Tharwet Kamoun

Painting - 55 x 38 x 2.5 cm

$565

Painting, Silver protea, Olga Volna

Silver protea

Olga Volna

Painting - 30 x 20 x 1 cm

$100 $70

Painting, Hollywood, Mea Ambrozo

Hollywood

Mea Ambrozo

Painting - 50 x 50 x 1 cm

$3,614

Photography, Miroir, Jean-Guy Nakars

Miroir

Jean-Guy Nakars

Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm

$225

Perfect Symmetry

We all remember studying symmetry at school: practicing folding a shape along an axis, so the two halves match up.


Whether it's the wings of a butterfly, a leaf from a tree, an individual snowflake or a flawless face; symmetry is truly everywhere. Artists have always been inspired by nature and their surroundings, and like the varying depictions of nature throughout art history, artists have been equally inspired by symmetry in their respective movements.


Since the 17th century, “French formal garden" landscapers have applied mathematical laws of symmetry when designing gardens. They create an axis that crosses the length of the garden, from which they draw diagonal and perpendicular axes in order to organise the distribution of plants. Box hedges and planting beds are resized into perfectly symmetrical shapes, which can be seen in the reigning example of French formal gardening; Versailles. As a result, an incredible sense of harmony is created, and is still achieved today through Le Notre's genius landscaping strategies. The Garden “à la française" evolved from the French Renaissance garden, a style which was inspired by the Italian Renaissance garden at the beginning of the 16th century. The gardens were designed to represent the two ideals of the Renaissance; harmony and order.


Symmetry has transcended the boundaries of time, location and religion, where even the most famous structures in the world observe strict perspective and symmetry rules. The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt is over 4500 years old, and yet its square foundation was still built on 4 axes of symmetry. Meanwhile the Taj Mahal in India was also planned with an emphasis on bilateral symmetry, running along a central axis of the main features. Bilateral symmetry emphasises ideas of pairing, and reflects intellectual and spiritual notions of universal harmony.


Some film directors swear by a symmetrical plan when creating a movie, which can be seen in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel and Darjeeling Limited or Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and A Clockwork Orange.  Symmetry has undoubtedly inspired all areas of the arts, and is especially prevalent in painting and photography, where it brings a long sought after harmony to the works.


French artist and symmetry enthousiast, Angélique Robin, produces drawings that can take up to 12-30 hours to complete. Her series, Meat, was created with felt pen and Chinese black ink. Her kaleidoscopic images are inspired by photos of corpses, naked women and pieces of meat. It is as though she is projecting her works into an alternate dimension, where she seeks to materialise ideas of perversion, corruption and lust.


Photographer, Oliver Pinchart, captures shots of buildings like the Picasso Museum and the Place des Victoires in Paris. He then deforms and manipulates these images along two vertical and horizontal axes. This allows him to achieve similar visual effects to sci-fi films such as Christopher Nolan's, Inception.

Let yourself be enchanted by the laws of symmetry through our unique selection of works which includes, paintings, photographs and drawings. Find the work of internationally renowned artists such as Vasarely, Philippe Decrausat and Invader on Artsper now.

Read more