A Pythagorean Notebook XII
1965
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color lithograph (stone and aluminum) and wove on white Arches paper
Dimensions
image: 40 x 52 cm (15 3/4 x 20 1/2 in.) sheet: 42.5 x 57.1 cm (16 3/4 x 22 1/2 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Dorothy J. and Benjamin B. Smith
Accession Number
1983.18.718.11
Art Historical Context
Alfred Jensen's *A Pythagorean Notebook XII (1965) is a captivating color lithograph from a larger portfolio, printed on fine white Arches wove paper using stone and aluminum plates. Measuring 40 x 52 cm, this work exemplifies Jensen's mid-20th-century fascination mathematics, mysticism, and color theory. As an American artist influenced by ancient philosophies, Jensen drew from Pythagorean principles—where numbers underpin the universe's harmony—lating numerical sequences into vibrant grids of color. Jensen's style blends abstraction with conceptual rigor, often evoking synesthesia by assign...