George Gordon Painting

As a group we checked out this painting at the Leeds Art Gallery. Its a picture of General George Gordon who was a British General killed and beheaded while defending the city of khartoum. Back home he was seen as a hero so when he died it was a terrible shock to the nation. This painting shows his final moments before his death, meeting his fate head on, meeting his enemies.

Unknown to me at the time this painting's composition is not overly special, its formulaic.

When looking at this painting most of our eyes are drawn to Gordon standing proudly and clearly at the top of the stairs. Then our eyes naturally drift down to the enemies and circle the foot of the painting then follow back up to the general once again. There is a reason most of us follow this movement which I'll get to latter, I just want to look at some of the things I noticed when looking at this painting first.   

• He is wearing darker clothing than his enemies so he stands out a little.
• He is above his enemies, on the stairs the man closest to him is almost kneeling, worshiping this British figure.
• He is standing to left while his enimies are to the right. If you read my post on 'Space In Film' you'll see the significance of this.  
• He is calm and reassured while his enemies appear savage.

These are just a few points that I made when looking at the painting but there is another reason that the painting is interesting. We have to look at The Golden Section to understand why.

When you place the golden section over the painting the image seems to fit perfectly. The enemies are below in the larger empty section and Gordon is placed in the middle of the line on the left hand side. It's really interesting. The golden section is considered to be aesthetically pleasing and its been used throughout history, in art, architecture and even in finance. I dont quite know that much about the golden section so I'll have to do a little more reading.

The reason your eyes sort of do a circular movement while looking at this painting
(Gordon to enemies to Gordon) is found when you create a spiral formation within the golden section. This design is found all over the place, in our culture, in nature and in the universe. Our eyes seem to travel along an invisible line that looks something like this.

But that's not all the painting has to offer.
Now we look at the rule of thirds.

Its said that an image of an actor/actress/subject who is placed in the middle of the frame is really unappealing and in film terms; makes them look weak. The rule of thirds breaks down the frame into nine sections and within those sections you can build your image. Where you put the horizon, where the characters are placed ect...  Using the thirds rule allows you to create a more dynamic and interesting shot. Most digital cameras have a function were you can bring up the nine square grid and lay it over the image in your LCD screen.

If we take the rule of thirds grid and lay it over the painting all the lines seem to be perfectly matched with the people and locations on the canvas. This painting is the perfect example of perfect composition. It ticks all the boxes!