So far in our series, we have talked about the base, “flat” elements of art. Today, we will begin to think more about depth and three-dimensionality, even when inside a flat work of art such as a painting.
This illusion of volume is the art fundamental we call Form, and while we can certainly define form as a simple flat shape given some dimension (a squared becoming a cube, a circle becoming a sphere), we should be considering the work in a more holistic manner. Yes, there will be elements of the work that have more volume. But what can we see in a work that gives it, as a whole, depth and three-dimensionality?
Light and shadows play a big part in the construction of volume—they are what allows our brains to notice how an object interacts with the space around it. Another important element to giving a work depth is perspective, which is also the most prominent example of form in Van Gogh’s Café Terrace at Night.
Van Gogh, Vincent. “Café Terrace at Night.” Wikimedia, May 29, 2026. Kröller-Müller Museum. Netherlands. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Gogh_-_Terrace_of_a_Caf%C3%A9_at_Night_(Place_du_Forum)_1888.jpg.
We have already mentioned perspective a few times in this series. The reason for this is because, of all the fundamentals on display in this work, the perspective is one that screams for attention as soon as soon as the viewer lays their eyes on the piece. You can’t help but notice it.
The perspective on Café Terrace at Night is what we call linear perspective. Leading lines converging into a single spot (vanishing point) in the horizon, with all elements along those lines getting progressively smaller. As all lines are converging to a single point, we call this One-Point Perspective. One-Point Perspective is a very simple but effective technique for creating depth within a painting.
The use of linear perspective is what creates the feeling that we, as viewers, could simply walk into this work. It grounds it as a place and informs us of how all of the elements within it behave a whole.
The perspective also greatly helps the composition of this work, but we will talk more about this aspect of it later in the series.
Can you see which elements in this work give it depth and three-dimensionality?
