Single-Point Perspective As The Unifying Principle In Some Malaysian And Singaporean Paintings

Abstract

Unification of pictorial elements and parts in a painting is, I believe, generally accepted as a value-conferring feature of the artwork. Our ability to connect and relate the different elements (such as a brushstroke, a dash of hue, or a shape of colour) of a painting enables us to see it as a coherent and intelligible whole. A picture which fails to satisfy this important condition often ends up as a disjointed patchwork that does not present itself as a concrete whole to the spectator. Consequently some critics believe that the tighter the unity of pictorial elements, the greater the success of the painting. Many devices have been employed by painters to achieve the unification of parts, but the most successful method employed so far in the attainment of tight pictorial unity is the so-called one-point (or single-point) perspective.