The document discusses pattern and rhythm in art. It defines pattern as the recurrence of an art element that creates order, while rhythm arises from the repetition of patterns and provides structure to viewing artwork. Examples are given of different types of patterns like alternating patterns, motifs, and grids, as well as rhythms like simple repetitive, progressive, and alternating rhythms. Specific artworks are analyzed to demonstrate how artists use pattern and rhythm.

1. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Copyright © 2015 Thames & Hudson
Chapter 1.9
Pattern and Rhythm

2. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Introduction
 Pattern and rhythm bring order to
space and create a dynamic
experience of time
 Patterns are created by the
recurrence of an art element
 Rhythm arises through the
repetition of pattern

3. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Pattern
 The use of repetition in a work
usually results in pattern
 Pattern can impose order on a
work
 Alternating patterns may be used
to make a work more lively
 The area covered by pattern is
called the field

4. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Interactive Exercises:
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Shape and Pattern

5. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Vertical Alternating Pattern
1.9.1 Vertical
alternating pattern

6. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Interactive Exercises:
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Unity and Contrast

7. Artwork: Suzanne Valadon, The
Blue Room
1.9.2 Suzanne Valadon, The Blue Room, 1923. Oil on canvas, 35½ × 45⅝”. Musée National d’Art Moderne,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

8. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Suzanne Valadon,
The Blue Room
 Three contrasting patterns
energize the work:
 Organic pattern of leaves and
stems in the blue bed covering
 Green-and-white striped pajamas
 Mottled pattern of the
background

9. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
What is Motif?
 A design repeated as a unit in a
pattern is called a motif
 Motifs can represent ideas,
images, and themes
 A repeated motif can create a
strong unified design

10. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Interactive Exercises:
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Motif

11. Artwork: Huqqa base
1.9.3 Huqqa base, India,
Deccan, last quarter of
17th century. Bidri ware
(zinc alloy inlaid with
brass), 6⅞ × 6½”.
Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York

12. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Huqqa base
 Many Islamic works use complex
interlaced motifs
 Elements, such as the flowers and
leaves of the plants, recur at
intervals

13. Artwork: Pashmina carpet
with millefleur pattern
1.9.4 slide 1: Pashmina carpet
with millefleur pattern, northern
India, Kashmir or Lahore,
second half of 17th century.
Pashmina wool (pile), silk (warp
and weft); pile dyed and knotted,
83 × 57⅞”. Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford, England

14. Detail of pashmina carpet
1.9.4 slide 2: Detail of pashmina carpet with millefleur pattern

15. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Pashmina carpet with
millefleur pattern
 Flower-like motifs are arranged in a
pattern in the center and border

16. Video:
PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
“The Abode of
Paradise”:
The Taj Mahal

17. Artwork: Chuck Close,
Self Portrait
1.9.5a Chuck Close,
Self Portrait, 1997. Oil
on canvas, 8’6” × 7’.
MoMA, New York

18. Detail of Self Portrait
1.9.5b Chuck Close,
Self Portrait, detail

19. Further detail of Self Portait
1.9.5c Chuck Close, Self Portrait, detail

20. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chuck Close,
Self Portrait
 Close’s paintings appear as
abstract patterns when viewed
closely
 A grid that subdivides the entire
image organizes the placement of
each cell
 The repeating cell motif unifies the
work

21. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Rhythm
 Rhythm gives structure to the
experience of looking
 Guides our eyes from one point to
another in a work of art
 Rhythm occurs when there are at
least two points of reference in an
artwork

22. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Interactive Exercises:
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Types of Rhythm

23. Artwork: Pieter Bruegel,
Hunters in the Snow
1.9.6 slide 1: Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow, 1565. Oil on panel, 46 × 63¾”. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

24. Detail of Hunters in the Snow
1.9.6 slide 2: Detail of Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow

25. Further detail of Hunters in
the Snow
1.9.6 slide 3: Detail of Pieter Bruegel, Hunters in the Snow

26. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Pieter Bruegel,
Hunters in the Snow
 The party of hunters on the left
side first draws our attention into
the work
 Our gaze circles through
foreground, middle ground and
background, then returns to the
original focal point

27. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Simple Repetitive Rhythm
 Artists create repetition by using
the same shape, color, size, value,
line, or texture over and over again
 Such regularity communicates
reassurance
 It is incorporated into architectural
designs as a sign of stability and
durability

28. Artwork: Great Mosque of
Córdoba
1.9.7 Great Mosque of Córdoba, prayer hall of Abd al-Rahman I, 784–86, Córdoba, Spain

29. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Great Mosque of
Córdoba
 Each of the repeating elements—
columns, arches, and voussoirs—
creates its own simple rhythm
 Enhances the function of the
space; becomes a part of the
activity of worship, like the
timelessness of prayer

30. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Progressive Rhythm
 Repetition that regularly increases
or decreases in frequency creates
a progressive rhythm as the eye
moves faster or slower across the
surface of the work

31. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Alternating Rhythm
 Multiple rhythms can become
complex
 The addition and alternation of
rhythms can add unpredictability
and visual excitement

32. Artwork: Bai-ra-Irrai
1.9.9 slide 1: Bai-ra-Irrai,
originally built c. 1700 and
periodically restored,
Airai village, Airai State,
Republic of Palau

33. Detail of Bai-ra-Irrai
1.9.9 slide 2: Detail of Bai-ra-Irrai

34. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Bai-ra-Irrai
 A place for meeting and ritual
 The rhythms in the imagery above
the entry become increasingly
irregular
 The edges of the roof display
symbolic icons that help frame the
composition and give the facade a
dynamic feel

35. Artwork: Francisco Goya, The
Third of May, 1808
1.9.10 Francisco Goya, The Third of May, 1808, 1814. Oil on canvas, 8’4⅜” x 11’3⅞”. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain

36. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateway to Art:
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Goya, The Third of May,
1808
 Divided into two rhythmic groups
 The French soldiers on the right
stand in a uniform pattern; the
victims on the left are organized
irregularly
 Visual rhythms suggest notions of
good and evil

37. Artwork: Goya, The Sleep of
Reason Produces Monsters
1.9.11 Francisco Goya, The
Sleep of Reason Produces
Monsters: Plate 43 of The
Caprices (Los Caprichos), 1799.
Etching, aquatint, drypoint, and
burin, 8 ⅞” × 5⅞”. Museo
Nacional del Prado, Spain

38. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Rhythmic Design Structure
 How artists divide visual space
into different sections to achieve
different kinds of effects

39. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Interactive Exercises:
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Rhythmic Structure

40. Artwork: Rosa Bonheur, Plowing
in the Nivernais: The Dressing of
the Vines
1.9.12a Rosa Bonheur, Plowing in the Nivernais: The Dressing of the Vines, 1849. Oil on canvas, 4’4¾” × 8’6⅜”.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France

41. Rhythmic structure in
Plowing in the Nivernais
1.9.12b Rhythmic structural diagram of 1.9.12a

42. PART 1
FUNDAMENTALS
Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Second Edition, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Rosa Bonheur,
Plowing in the Nivernais
 A horizontal rhythmic structure
leads our eye in sequence from
one group of shapes to the next,
from left to right
 Changing width of the gaps
suggests the slow, irregular
movement of the cattle

43. PART 1
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Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Chapter 1.9 Copyright
Information
This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 1.9
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts
Second Edition
By Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, and M. Kathryn Shields
Copyright © 2015 Thames & Hudson

44. PART 1
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Chapter 1.9 Pattern and Rhythm
Picture Credits for Chapter 1.9
1.9.1 Ralph Larmann
1.9.2 Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
1.9.3 Metropolitan Museum of Art, Louis E. and Theresa S. Seley Purchase Fund for Islamic Art,
and Rogers Fund, 1984. Photo Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence
1.9.4 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
1.9.5a, b, c Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of Agnes Gund, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Donald L.
Bryant, Jr., Leon Black, Michael and Judy Ovitz, Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro, Leila and Melville
Straus, Doris and Donald Fisher, and purchase, Acc. no. 215.2000. Photo Ellen Page Wilson, courtesy The
Pace Gallery © Chuck Close, The Pace Gallery
1.9.6 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
1.9.7 iStockphoto.com
1.9.8 Please note that this image is not available for digital use but can be found on p. 173 of the textbook.
1.9.9 © WaterFrame/Alamy
1.9.10, 1.9.11 Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
1.9.12a Musée d’Orsay, Paris
1.9.12b Ralph Larmann