Line. A line is an identifiable path created by a point moving in space. It is one- dimensional and can vary in width, direction, and length. Lines often.

Line

• A line is an identifiable path created by a point moving in space. It is one-dimensional and can vary in width, direction, and length. Lines often define the edges of a form. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, straight or curved, thick or thin. They lead your eye around the composition and can communicate information through their character and direction.

Horizontal

Nicolas Poussin French, 1650 - 1651 Landscape with a Calm

Oil on canvas 38 3/16 x 51 9/16 in.

Getty Museum 97.PA.60

VerticalLines often communicate a sense of height because they are perpendicular to the earth, extending upwards toward the sky. In this church interior, vertical lines suggest spirituality, rising beyond human reach toward the heavens.

Pieter Jansz. Saenredam The Choir and North Ambulatory of the Church of Saint Bavo, Haarlem

Dutch, November 1634 Pen and brown ink and watercolor, stylus incising throughout; verso rubbed with black chalk for

transfer to panel 14 13/16 x 15 7/16 in.

88.GC.131

Horizontal and vertical linesused in combination communicate stability and solidity. Rectilinear forms with 90-degree angles are structurally stable. This stability suggests permanence and reliability

Attributed to Adam Weisweiler One of a pair of cabinets

French, Paris, about 1810 Oak veneered with ebony and pewter; set with pietre dure plaques; gilt bronze mounts; portor

d'Italie marble tops H: 3 ft. 4 in. x W: 4 ft. 11 1/8 in. x D: 1 ft. 8 7/8 in.

76.DA.9.1

Diagonal linesconvey a feeling of movement. Objects in a diagonal position are unstable. Because they are neither vertical nor horizontal, they are either about to fall or are already in motion. The angles of the ship and the rocks on the shore convey a feeling of movement or speed in this stormy harbor scene.

Claude-Joseph Vernet A Storm on a Mediterranean Coast

French, Paris, 1767 Oil on canvas

44 1/2 x 57 3/8 in. 2002.9.1

Diagonal lines.In a two-dimensional composition, diagonal lines can also indicate depth through perspective. These diagonal lines pull the viewer visually into the image. For example, in this photograph the diagonal lines lead the eye into the space to the point where the lines converge.

Attributed to Silas A. Holmes St. Paul's Chapel

American, New York City, about 1855 Salt print

10 x 14 13/16 in. 84.XM.351.5

Curved linescan convey energy. Soft, shallow curves recall the curves of the human body and often have a pleasing, sensual quality and a softening effect on the composition. The edge of the pool in this photograph gently leads the eye to the sculptures on the horizon.Sharply curved or twisted lines can convey turmoil, chaos, and even violence. In this sculpture, the lines of the contorting bodies and the serpent help convey the intensity of the struggle against the snake's stranglehold. can convey energy. Soft, shallow curves recall the curves of the human body and often have a pleasing, sensual quality and a softening effect on the composition.

Eugène Atget Pool, Saint-Cloud

French, Saint-Cloud, about 1915 - 1919 Albumen print

7 3/16 x 8 9/16 in. 90.XM.64.51

Curved linesSharply curved or twisted lines can convey turmoil, chaos, and even violence. In this sculpture, the lines of the contorting bodies and the serpent help convey the intensity of the struggle against the snake's stranglehold. can convey energy. Soft, shallow curves recall the curves of the human body and often have a pleasing, sensual quality and a softening effect on the composition.

Giovanni Battista Foggini Italian, Florence, about 1720

Bronze H: 22 1/16 x W: 17 5/16 x D: 8 5/8 in.

Lines > PatternWhen repeated, lines can create a pattern. In this example, the artist repeated different kinds of lines across the composition to create various patterns. Patterned lines also give the image rhythm.

Vincent van Gogh Arles: View from the Wheatfields

Dutch, France, 1888 Reed and quill pens and brown ink

12 5/8 x 9 5/8 in. 2001.25

XVincent van GoghDutch, 1853-1890

Cottages with a Woman Working in the Middle Ground, 1890Weeping Tree, 1889

Art Institute of Chicago

Rembrandt Three Trees

XX

Vincent van GoghDutch, 1853-1890

Tetards (Pollards), 1884Weeping Tree, 1889

Art Institute of Chicago

Vincent van GoghDutch, 1853-1890

Weeping Tree, 1889Art Institute of Chicago

Wheat Field with Cypresses at the Haude Galline near EygalieresVincent van Gogh - 1889 

Drawing Height: 47 cm (18.5 in.), Width: 62 cm (24.41 in.) Van Gogh Museum (Netherlands) 

Vincent van GoghDutch, 1853-1890Cypresses, 1889

Art Institute of Chicago

Elizabeth Catlett. American, born 1915Sharecropper, 1952, printed 1970

Color linocut on cream Japanese paper450 x 431 mm (block); 544 x 513 mm (sheet)

Signed recto, lower right: "Elizabeth Catlett"; inscribed recto, lower left: "A/P Sharecropper"Restricted gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Hartman, 1992.182

© Elizabeth Catlett/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Art Institute of Chicago

Larry RiversPortrait of Edwin Denby, 1953

Pencil on paper16 3/8 x 19 3/4" (41.5 x 50.1 cm)

The MUseum of Modern Art, New York City

William Kentridge Learning the Flute

Courtesy Museum of Modern Art New York © 2010 William Kentridge

William Kentridge Learning the Flute

Courtesy Museum of Modern Art New York © 2010 William Kentridge

William Kentridge Seated Couple (Back to Back) 1998

Courtesy Museum of Modern Art New York © 2010 William Kentridge

Robert Longo, Untitled, from Men in the Cities, 1981-87. Charcoal, graphite, and ink on paper, 96 x 48 inches/238.8 x 121.9 cm.

Private Collection

Robert Longo, UUNTITLED (HELL'S GATE)2001

Charcoal on mounted paper69 x 72 inches/175.3 x 182.9 cm

Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Olga in a fur collar, 1923.

Pablo Picasso, Head of Marie Therese, 1933