e into equal parts, neither
one having precedence, and the subdivisions may be continued indefinitely.
For this reason it has no place in genre art. Its antiphonal responses
belong to the temple. A more objectionable form of balance on the centre
is that in which the centre is of small importance. This cuts the picture
into halves without reason. The _"__Dutch Peasants on the Shore,__"_
_"__Low Tide,__"_ and _"__The Poulterers,__"_ and David's "Rape of the
Sabine Women," are examples.

These pictures present three degrees of formal balance. In the first a
lack of sequence impairs the picture's unity. In the second, though the
objects are contiguous there is no subjective union, and in David's
composition the formality of the decorative structure is inapplicable to
the theme.

The circular group of Dagnan-Bouveret's "Pardon in Brittany," where the
peasants are squatted on the left in the foreground is a daring bit of
balance, finding its justification in the movement of interest toward the
right in the background.

In all forms, save the classic decoration it should be the artist's effort
to conceal the balance over the centre.

[]

In avoiding the equal divisions of the picture plane a practical plan of
construction is based upon the strong points as opposed to the weak ones.
It assumes that the weak point is the centre, and that in all types of
composition where formality is not desired the centre is to be avoided.
Any points equidistant from any two sides are also weak points. The
inequalities in distance should bear a mathematical ratio to each other as
one and two-thirds, two and three-fifths. These points will be strongest
and best adapted for the placement of objects which are distant from the
boundary lines and the corners, _in degrees most varied._

If we take a canvas of ordinary proportion, namely, one whose length is
equal to the hypothenuse on the square of its breadth, as 28x36 or 18x24
and divide it into unequal divisions as three, five or seven, we will
produce points on which good composition will result.

The reason for this is that the remaining two-thirds becomes a unit as has
the one-third. If the larger is given the precedence it carries the
interest; if not it must be sacrificed to the smaller division. On this
principle it may be seen that a figure could occupy a position in the
centre if it tied itself _in a positive_ way to that division which