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I have read several claims in all kinds of literature (both scientific, less scientific and downwards anti-scientific) about golden ratio and its "aesthetics".

However, all the "proofs" I have seen seemed to me like arbitrarily chosen and ignored all kind of aesthetically pleasing ratios, like 1:2, 2:3 etc., that appear in various art, too.

So, my question is - was the claim that "golden ratio is the most aesthetically pleasing ratio" ever really proved?

(note: I have seen other claims about golden ratio, that seemed unfounded, but I will leave that for later. Right now I want to focus on the claim of aesthetics.)

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  • My own half-answer: I have found this website now - goldenratiomyth.weebly.com/phi-in-psychology.html
    – Karel Bílek
    Commented Jul 23, 2013 at 18:10
  • You're asking if an opinion has ever been proved?
    – Flimzy
    Commented Jul 24, 2013 at 0:47
  • Yes, because the claims usually talk about something that is universally more pleasing and universally aesthetical. Also, the question was marked as a duplicate for completely different question. Well... all right, I guess?
    – Karel Bílek
    Commented Jul 24, 2013 at 2:32
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    I'm not sure this is actually a notable claim. In my art studies, I've often seen the claim that the golden ratio is aesthetically significant in art composition, but I haven't run across the claim that it's superior to the exclusion of everything else. On the contrary, most serious art instruction (in my experience) favors simpler guidelines like the rule of thirds, and most photographic tools default to the rule of thirds rather than 1:φ. The idea that the golden ratio is “ideal” is more a matter of trivia – can you point to notable examples?
    – B. Szonye
    Commented Jul 24, 2013 at 5:18

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