What is the role of mathematics in art?

Mathematics and art may at first seem to be very different things, but actually
mathematics and art are related. Mathematics plays role in different types of art such as
painting and sculpture. Artists use mathematics in their artworks.

In painting art, geometry is one of the first things which springs to mind when we
consider the link between mathematics and painting. It is a branch of mathematics
whose objective is to study shapes and space. Painting is an artistic arrangement of
forms in order to form a composition. Besides that, the famous artist Leonardo Da Vinci
also used mathematics in his artwork. One very famous piece, known as the Mona Lisa,
painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, is drawn according to the golden ratio. The golden ratio is
1:0.618 and has been coined golden because it is said to be aesthetically pleasing. The
golden proportion can be found throughout the human body. A golden rectangle is
simply a rectangle with dimensions that reflect the golden ratio. The Mona Lisa has
many golden rectangles throughout the painting.

Mathematics plays important role in sculpture art. Mathematical Sculpture makes

use of concepts relative to many mathematical fields such as geometry, differential
calculus, algebra, logic, etc. Sculptures for which the use of mathematics becomes
essential in their conception, design, development or execution will belong to this
typology. Some sculptures explicitly show their mathematical nature; a clear example
could be a work based on the figure of a polyhedron or other specific geometrical shape,
so it will be easier classifying it. However, in other works mathematics is only present in
an implicit or hidden way, in which the mathematical conception is implicit in the design.

In a nutshell, the role of mathematics is important and useful to art. Therefore, it

is strongly recommended that children learn mathematics and art together.