Painting - Square Root of Pi

Object Details

painter

Johnson, Crockett

Description

This oil painting is an original construction of Crockett Johnson. Since there are no notes on this construction, there is no way to tell what, if any, geometrical statement Johnson was representing in this painting. It may be the case that he merely thought of a more artistic way to portray the rectangles with area the square root of pi that appear in notes used for another painting, “Pi Squared and its Square Root” (1979.1093.54).

This painting has at its center a circle with center O and area pi. Also in the painting there are two rectangles, each of area the square root of pi, that share a diagonal that is the diameter of the circle with one end at point E. The purple rectangle in the painting has sides CE and EX and the white rectangle has sides DE and EF. The square in the painting is congruent to the square BDXA so it also has area pi, but it has been translated so its center is the same as the center of the circle, i.e. at O.

This is one of two paintings in the collection with this same title referring to the area the rectangles shown in the paintings. The geometry of the two is identical (see painting #100 - 1979.1093.67) but the dimensions and colors are different. The method of the color scheme of this painting, #89 in the series, is similar to painting #100 because, like the electric blue rectangle in the other painting, the white color of the rectangle against the purple background creates a dramatic contrast that highlights a rectangle with area the title of the painting.

This painting was executed in oil on masonite and has a black wooden frame. It is unsigned and undated.

Location

Currently not on view

Credit Line

Ruth Krauss in memory of Crockett Johnson

1970-1975

ID Number

1979.1093.58

catalog number

1979.1093.58

accession number

1979.1093

Object Name

painting

Physical Description

masonite (substrate material)

wood (frame material)

Measurements

overall: 63.2 cm x 63.5 cm x 3.2 cm; 24 7/8 in x 25 in x 1 1/4 in

See more items in

Medicine and Science: Mathematics

Science & Mathematics

Crockett Johnson

Art

National Museum of American History

Record ID

nmah_694682

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-1a1d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa