Noton
Nōtan (濃淡) is a design aesthetic referring to the use of light and shade while also implying a balance or harmony in their respective contrast. Its origins are said to lie in Asian art, best represented by the Taoist symbol of the yin and yang, although the concept itself is unique to art education in the United States and is generally described as an American idea. Nōtan, as it is used this way, refers to the relationship between positive and negative space, and in composition, the connection between shape and background. This use of dark and light translates shape and form into flat shapes on a two-dimensional surface. Art historian Ernest Fenollosa (1853–1908) is credited with introducing nōtan to the United States in the waning years of the fin de siècle. It was subsequently popularized by Arthur Wesley Dow in his book Composition (1899).
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