picture plane

American  

noun

1. the plane of a painting, drawing, or the like, that is in the extreme foreground of a picture, is coextensive with but not the same as the material surface of the work, is the point of visual contact between the viewer and the picture, and is conceived as a major structural element in the production of abstract or illusionistic forms.

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Etymology

Origin of picture plane

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

They seem to be lowering Christ’s corpse, which is thrust forward from the picture plane, onto the altar below the painting.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

“We were going to have the picture plane parallel to the walls of structures we were shooting, always. The buildings couldn’t have converging lines. Steven wanted that formal graphic design.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2024

Gloopy 3D-printed sculptures of melted dogs and turtles, as though escaped from the picture plane, amplify the allegorical mood.

From New York Times • Jan. 4, 2023

Taylor pumps life into the static picture plane, which creates a visual friction that can make the figures he chooses riveting to see.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2022

It is, in fact, just like the grid used by artists to establish the picture plane, and its representation requires the same techniques as the representation of a tiled floor.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton