The Art of Binocular Perspective

• Pages: 25-27

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THE ART OF

BINOCULAR

PERSPECTIVE

perceived with both eyes. He concluded that the

accepted understanding of linear perspective is an

oversimplication of reality.

Mr. Sauteur realized that the vanishing points in

works of art are not unidirectional but multidirec-

tional – convergent, divergent, cross-cutting and

parallel. “I paint things as I see them with both eyes

open, but when I come across an anomaly – a line

that does not follow the traditional theory, then

I have to explain it. This enables me to rene the

technique,” he notes. “This involves many sleepless

nights, and a great deal of research; it is a pains-

taking process that calls for a lot of energy and

concentration,” he conded. On the basis of his

observations, Albert Sauteur has developed a new

geometry that enables him to capture on canvas

the three-dimensional nature of space.

By breaking with tradition and taking a fresh look at

life, Mr. Sauteur has found a way to produce works

of still life brimming with energy.

Binocular vision explained

Healthy binocular vision is part of normal human

vision, contrary to a camera which has just one lens.

Binocular vision produces important perceptual

visual eects that reveal an object’s volume and

depth.

When both eyes work together and focus simulta-

neously on the same target, each takes a unique

view of the object from its own perspective. These

two images are sent to the brain where they are

superimposed to become three-dimensional with

added depth.

Mr. Sauteur noticed that each eye has its own

vanishing point but that blurring occurs when an

image is viewed by both eyes simultaneously. This,

he notes, engenders a third vanishing point that is

common to both eyes and uctuates according to

the depth of vision. This is what Mr. Sauteur paints

Mr. Sauteur’s art reveals a remarkable realism that

invites the viewer to take a fresh look at the objects

he presents – a bowl and a withered leaf, a juicy

apple and a violin, a clove of garlic beside a cooking

pot. Far from “still”, his works emit a singular energy

and capture the life and quintessential character

of the objects he paints.

A hallmark of the artist’s work is the juxtaposition

of organic and inorganic objects, bringing each

object into relief and infusing it with an arresting

and palpable physicality. “By using contrasting

quantities and colors, it is possible to create an

interesting interplay between the objects and to

give life to my paintings,” he notes.

What is so dierent about Albert Sauteur’s approach?

His technique is revolutionary and sheds new light

on our understanding of how the human eye per-

ceives and reconstitutes three-dimensional visual

space. In his work, he strives to capture on canvas

the world as seen through human eyes.

Binocular vision

Since the discovery of perspective over 500 years

ago, artists seeking to capture a model or a scene

typically close one eye to reconstitute an image

and proportion the elements of the painting

appropriately. The resulting image, so the theory

goes, presents a single vanishing point towards

which the lines of the work converge on the hori-

zon – something along the lines of two parallel

train tracks converging in the distance.

Mr. Sauteur’s keen eye, unflinching tenacity

and perfectionism, however, led him to call this

received wisdom into question. He observed that

what an artist sees with one eye diers greatly from

that seen with both. “When you close one eye you

lose the richness of reality,” he notes. He also real-

ized that the established rules of linear perspective

did not take into account the fact that works of art

and the models and scenes they depict are, in fact,

Every year artists from around the world display their works at the headquarters of the World Intellectual

Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. These colorful and varied exhibitions oer a glimpse

of the depth and breadth of creative talent that exists within WIPO’s 184 member states. Earlier this year,

the program featured the striking still life paintings of Swiss artist Albert Sauteur. WIPO Magazine met with

the artist to nd out more about his novel technique.