Honor Pythagoras, Per I – Per VI

Alfred Jensen, Honor Pythagoras, Per I--Per VI, 1964, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Hugh W. Downe and museum purchase made possible by the American Art Forum, 2001.35A-F
Copied Alfred Jensen, Honor Pythagoras, Per I--Per VI, 1964, oil on canvas, overall: 84 x 300 in. (213.4 x 762 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Hugh W. Downe and museum purchase made possible by the American Art Forum, 2001.35A-F

Artwork Details

Title
Honor Pythagoras, Per I – Per VI
Artist
Date
1964
Location
Dimensions
overall: 84 x 300 in. (213.4 x 762 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Hugh W. Downe and museum purchase made possible by the American Art Forum
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Allegory — arts and sciences — mathematics
  • Abstract — geometric
Object Number
2001.35A-F
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2001.35A-F

Artwork Description

Alfred Jensen strove to reveal the connections between art, science, and spirituality.

For him, the thousands of strokes of color that he applied across these six conjoined canvases expressed the unity of all things. The colored triangles represent prisms that break white light into brilliant hues, and the geometries and numbers underlie the basic order of the universe. Jensen was inspired by mathematics, but also by visual forms from around the world, including calendars and counting systems from Arabic, Mayan, and Chinese cultures.

The painting--one of the artist's largest--contains complex symbols and ideas, yet it operates very simply on another level: undiluted color, shape, and rhythm combine to create a harmony that appeals to the eye and the body as much as to the mind.