Object Details
- painter
- Johnson, Crockett
- Description
- This is one of a series of paintings in which Crockett Johnson explored ways of constructing the regular heptagon. The construction is his own, and a drawing for it is attached to the back of the painting. By an arrangement of ten equal line segments, he produced three sides and two angles of a regular heptagon. Two sides and one angle are actually shown in the painting.
- Crockett Johnson supposed that four equal isosceles triangles, constructed with six equal line segments, were arranged as shown in his figure to form sides of a rhombus and of a parallelogram within it. Two adjacent sides of the rhombus also served as the long sides of equal triangles oriented in the opposite direction. Finally, a line parallel to one of these sides passed through points of intersection of the sides of triangles.
- More specifically, in the drawing triangles BAF, DAR, DKE, and HBE are arranged within rhombus ABED, and around a central parallelogram. Two other equal triangles DES and BAG are also included. AFand EJ intersect at a point C and EK and BH at a point P. The tenth line, UL parallel to BE, passes through points C and P. Crockett Johnson claimed that BCPE represents three sides of a regular heptagon. His argument appears in his papers. The painting shows only the ten equal lines described in the title.
- The sections of the rhombus are in black, white, and rose, with a purple background. There is a wooden frame painted purple. This oil painting on masonite is #109 in the series. It is marked on the back: HEPTAGON FROM TEN EQUAL LINES (/) Crockett Johnson 1973. Taped to the back is a sheet of paper with an explanation that is entitled: HEPTAGON FROM TEN EQUAL LINES.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Ruth Krauss in memory of Crockett Johnson
- 1973
- ID Number
- 1979.1093.75
- catalog number
- 1979.1093.75
- accession number
- 1979.1093
- Object Name
- painting
- Physical Description
- masonite (substrate material)
- wood (frame material)
- Measurements
- overall: 125 cm x 125 cm x 5 cm; 49 3/16 in x 49 3/16 in x 1 15/16 in
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- Crockett Johnson
- Art
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_694699
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-1657-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
