Four things to see: Circles

‘Four things to see’ is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, a free arts and culture platform that provides access to museums, galleries and cultural spaces around the world on demand. Download the Bloomberg Connects app here to access hundreds of digital guides and explore compelling audio and behind-the-scenes perspectives.

Each week we bring you four of the most interesting objects from the world’s museums, galleries and art institutions, hand-picked to mark significant moments in the calendar.

Pi Day, celebrated on 14 March (3.14), honours the mathematical constant that has fascinated humans for millennia. The ratio between a circle’s circumference and its diameter has wide-ranging implications and throughout history has inspired artists as much as mathematicians.

From Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man to Kandinsky’s concentric forms, artists have long been drawn to circles and their rich metaphorical potential – as a spiritual symbol, an emblem of completeness and continuity, or something else entirely. This week we explore four works that harness the power of this fundamental form.

Unitario (2014), Néstor Millán Álvarez. Museo de Arte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez. © the artist

Unitario (2014), Néstor Millán Álvarez
Museo de Arte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez

Álvarez took inspiration from the geometric forms of a football field in this vibrant paint and collage work. It is part of his mixed-media series Territorios Fragmentados, which the artist has said is a meditation on Schlegel’s idea that ‘many works of the moderns are fragments at the time of their origin’. The work includes a hand that looks much like that of God in Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, which alludes to the idea of pieces becoming a unified whole. Click here to find out more on the Bloomberg Connects app.

The ceiling of the Domed Room at Casa Vicens, Barcelona, which was designed by Antoni Gaudí and finished in 1885. Photo: Pol Viladoms; © Casa Vicens, Barcelona 2017

Ceiling of the Domed Room at Casa Vicens (1883–5), Antoni Gaudí
Casa Vicens, Barcelona

Casa Vicens in Barcelona, built in the 1880s in the orientalist style, was Gaudí’s first major project, but it contains imaginative touches that prefigure the revolutionary architectural vision that would come to define his career. In the living room, Gaudí incorporated a striking image of birds ascending into an illusory dome, which is in fact not a dome but a trompe l’oeil painted on to a flat ceiling. Click here to learn more.

Homage to Blériot (1914), Robert Delaunay. Kunstmuseum Basel

Homage to Blériot (1914), Robert Delaunay
Kunstmuseum Basel

Few artists are so strongly associated with one shape as Robert Delaunay, the artist who co-founded the Orphist movement in the early 20th century and remained fascinated by circles throughout his career. The colourful forms in this composition, dedicated to the aviation pioneer Louis Blériot, suggest propellers, wheels and celestial bodies, while the placement of overlapping circles creates a sense of movement and vibration. Click here to find out more.

The Contemplative Court (2016) at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Photo: Jason Flakes

The Contemplative Court (2016)
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

In this powerful architectural feature, concentric circles of water rain down from the oculus above, accompanied by gentle lighting. When the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in 2016 it was felt that visitors might need a space to decompress from the galleries, which include depictions of slavery, segregation and other difficult subjects. The installation was designed with this in mind – a place of reflection, healing and peace. Click here to read more.

‘Four things to see’ is sponsored by Bloomberg Connects, a free arts and culture platform that provides access to museums, galleries and cultural spaces around the world on demand. Download the app here or scan the QR code to access hundreds of digital guides, anytime, anywhere.