Where Art Meets Math

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the American cartoonist Crockett Johnson created a series of paintings on mathematical subjects. They’re based on theorems, laws, and mathematical figures, but viewers don’t need a background in math to appreciate the completed pieces. Other mathematical works and figures from across the Smithsonian are in the mix.

Where Art Meets Math

Sun Mathematics

Homage to the Square--White Line-Black

Key Blue (from series, the Mathematical Basis of the Arts)

Trees (from series, the Mathematical Basis of the Arts)

1876 Ellen Harding Baker's "Solar System" Quilt

Mathematics and Music (chickadee on tree branch)

Green Squares (from series, the Mathematical Basis of the Arts)

Two Triangles Dihedral

Homage to the Square: Arrived

Homage to the Square--Patina

Homage to the Square: Golden Gate

Homage to the Square--Full

Homage to the Square--White Line-Purple

Agnes Meyer

Homage to the Square: Tuscany

Blue Gray Violet Wheel (from series, the Mathematical Basis of the Arts)

Homage to the Square--Equivocal

Homage to the Square--Joy

Triangle

Homage to the Square--Reserved

Homage to the Square--Shielded

Homage to the Square--Wide Light

Homage to the Square--Thaw

Homage to the Square--Aura

Homage to the Square--Tenuous

Triangles

Homage to the Square: Yellow and Ochre

Homage to the Square: Blue Reminding

Small Triangles

Homage to the Square: Arctic Bloom

Homage to the Square--White Line-Red

Golden Gate, Homage to the Square, Soft Edge – Hard Edge

Mathematics and Art (Northern Renaissance landscape, man walking over bridge)