Two paintings in the Crockett Johnson collection concern the ancient problem of doubling the volume of a given cube, or the problem of Delos. Crockett Johnson wrote of this problem: "Plutarch mentions it, crediting as his source a now lost version of the legend written by the third century BC Alexandrian Greek astronomer Eratosthenes, who first measured the size of the Earth. Suffering from plague, Athens sent a delegation to Delos, Apollo’s birthplace, to consult its oracle. The oracle’s instruction to the Athenians, to double the size of their cubical altar stone, presented an impossible problem. . . ."(p. 99). Hence the reference to the problem of Delos in the title of the painting.
Isaac Newton suggested a solution to the problem in his book Arithmetica Universalis, first published in 1707. His construction served as the basis of the painting. Newton’s figure, as redrawn by Crockett Johnson, begins with a base (OA), bisected at a point (B), with an equilateral triangle (OCB) constructed on one of the halves of the base. Newton then extended the sides of this triangle through one vertex. Placing a marked straightedge at one end of the base (O), he rotated the rule so that the distance between the two lines extended equaled the sides of the triangle (in the figure, DE = OB = BA = OC = BC). If these line segments are of length one, one can show that the line segment OD is of length equal to the cube root of two, as desired.
In Crockett Johnson’s painting, the line OA slants across the bottom and the line ODE is vertical on the left. The four squares drawn from the upper left corner (point E) have sides of length 1, the cube root of 2, the cube root of 4, and two. The distance DE (1) represents the edge of the side and the volume of a unit cube, while the sides of three larger squares represent the edge (the cube root of 2), the side (the square of the cube root of 2) and the volume (the cube of the cube root of two) of the doubled cube.
This oil painting on masonite is #56 in the series and dates from 1970. The work is signed: CJ70. It is inscribed on the back: PROBLEM OF DELOS (/) CONSTRUCTED FROM A SOLUTION BY (/) ISAAC NEWTON (ARITHMETICA UNIVERSALIS) (/) Crockett Johnson 1970. The painting has a wood and metal frame. For related documentation see 1979.3083.04.06. See also painting number 85 (1979.1093.55), with the references given there.
Reference: Crockett Johnson, “On the Mathematics of Geometry in My Abstract Paintings,” Leonardo 5 (1972): pp. 98–9.
This painting, #92 in the series, relates to a verse in the Old Testament (I Kings, Chapter VII, Verse 23) which states, "Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits brim to brim, round in compass, . . . and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about." This verse tells us that the circular sea had a circumference of 30 cubits and a diameter of 10 cubits. Because the value of pi is defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter (pi = c/d), the ancient Hebrew text uses 30/10 = 3 as the value for pi.
To illustrate this value of pi, Crockett Johnson inscribes the six-pointed Star of David within a circle. The curve joining two opposite points of the star (point C and point F in his figure) serves as a reminder of how to construct a six-pointed figure inside a circle. Furthermore, he inscribes a second, smaller circle inside the hexagon created by the six-pointed star.
In this painting, it is assumed that the value of pi is 3. There are several relationships in the painting that involve this number. The inner circle has radius 1/2 and the outer circle has radius 1. Thus, the smaller circle has circumference pi and the larger circle has area pi. Triangle ABC in Crockett Johnson's figure is a 30-60-90 triangle with AC = 1, AB = 2, and CB equals the square root of 3. It follows that CD, BD, EA, EF, and AF also equal the square root of 3. The Star of David is composed of two overlapping equilateral triangles (triangles AEF and BCD in the figure). Triangle AEF has altitude AH = 3/2 and triangle BCD has altitude BG = 3/2. Thus, the sum of their altitudes is AH + BG = 3. It is also interesting to note that, although the dotted lines in the accompanying figure are not present in the painting, the area of the square created by the dotted corners equals three.
In reference to this painting, Crockett Johnson wrote, "Each of the six sides of the two equilateral triangles equaled the square root of the area of the outer circle and the square root of the circumference of the inner circle; together the altitudes of the male and female triangles equaled the area of the outer circle and the circumference of the inner circle. Of course both of these circular dimensions are pi, but ecclesiastically pi equaled 3."
The artist chose several tints and shades of blue for this painting. The illustration is darker underneath the curve from C to F than it is above, and the transition between each tint and shade is subtle. The choice of this one, “cool” color evokes a feeling of tranquility.
This work was painted in oil on masonite, and has a wood and metal frame. It is unsigned and its date of completion is unknown.
Reference: Biblical Squared Circles, 1979.3083.02.09, Crockett Johnson Collection.
This oil painting on masonite, #91 in the series, uses the same construction as that of painting #52 (see 1979.1093.35). Crockett Johnson's construction leads to a square with side approximately equal to 1.772435, which differs from the square root of pi by less than 0.00001, as the title states. Thus, a square with this side would have an area approximately equal to 3.1415258.
Unlike painting #52 (1979.1093.35), the circle of this work is divided into four quadrants. Crockett Johnson chose darker shades and lighter tints of pink to illustrate his figure, which appear bold juxtaposed against the black background. The triangle executed in the lightest tint of pink and the shape executed in white with a pink tip adjoin the horizontal line segment that has an approximate length of the square root of pi.
This painting was completed in 1972, is unsigned, and has a wooden frame accented with chrome. On the back is an inscription, partly obscured, that reads: - 0.00001 (/) Crockett Johnson 1972.
Some sources refer to this painting as Circle Squared to 0.0001.
The locus of the midpoints of the chords of a given circle that pass through a fixed point is a circle when the point lies inside of or on the circle. The small circle painted white is the locus of the midpoints of chords drawn in the large circle that pass through a point toward the top left of the inside of the circle. Three chords of the large circle are suggested. These are the diameter, whose midpoint is the center of the circle, a vertical chord through the point, and a horizontal chord through the point (only a small part of this chord is indicated). The painting is based on a diagram from College Geometry by Nathan Court. It is unclear why Crockett Johnson associated this painting with Plato.
The oil painting on masonite is #41 in the series. It has a background of two purple and gray rectangles. It has a metal and wooden frame. It shows a circle with a smaller circle inside it. The smaller circle is in two shades of white, the larger one in orange, black, gray and light purple. The painting is signed: CJ66. It is marked on the back: Crockett Johnson 1966 (/) LOCUS OF POINT ON CHORD (PLATO).
Reference: Nathan Court, College Geometry, (1964 printing), p. 13. This figure is annotated in Crockett Johnson's copy of this volume.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the American cartoonist Crockett Johnson created a series of paintings on mathematical subjects. This oil painting, #74 in the series, dates from 1969 and is signed "CJ69." It is based on a theorem in plane geometry proved by the English-born mathematician Frank Morley (1860–1937). Morley emigrated to the United States and taught at Haverford College and Johns Hopkins University.
The painting illustrates his best-known result. It shows lines that divide the three angles of the large triangle into three equal parts. Lines coming from different vertices of the triangle meet in points. The triangle formed by joining the intersections of the trisectors, which lie nearest to the three sides of the triangle, is shown in white in the painting. According to Morley's theorem, this is an equilateral triangle.