Virtual Field Trip 3 – Math in Art

Let’s Go to the

Museum of Modern Art

“If I were called upon to define briefly the word Art, I should call it the reproduction of what the senses perceive in nature, seen through the veil of the soul.”

- Paul Cezanne

Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual, auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the author’s imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill, intended to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power. Mathematics has itself been described as an art motivated by beauty. Mathematics can be seen in arts such as music, dance, painting, architecture, sculpture, and textiles. What better way to experience the relationship between math & art by going on a virtual tour.

Math in Art - Let’s Go to the Museum of Modern Art

Day 1

• Click here to access a virtual tour of New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on YouTube.

• As you go through your journey, take note of the mathematical elements seen in the various works of art shown.

Day 2

• Scan through some works of art mentioned in the tour (included on the next few pages).

• Generate a list of at least 5 math terms that appear in the works shown on the tour or in the pieces shown.

Day 3 &

Day 4

• Create a PowerPoint (available on Office365) containing your 5 terms and how each was used. Be sure to include the artist’s name & title of the piece for each term.

• Each term should be featured on its own slide. • Make sure your opening slide has…

o Your First & Last Name o Your Teacher’s Name o Your Class Period

Day 5

• Create your own “masterpiece” that incorporates the five terms you used in your PowerPoint. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like.

• Your last slide should be a picture of your “masterpiece.”. • Submit your Power Point in your Microsoft Teams page.

Important Works of Modern Art

Man With A Guitar

Georges Braque, 1914

Girl Before A Mirror

Pablo Picasso, 1932

Water Lilies

Claude Monet, 1919

Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

The Persistence of Memory

Salvador Dalí, 1931

Campbell’s Soup Cans

Andy Warhol, 1962

L’Atelier Rouge (or The Red Studio)

Henri Matisse, 1911

The Scream

Edvard Munch, 1895

Broadway Boogie Woogie

Piet Mondrian, 1942-43

Still Life From the Metropolitan Scene

Roy Lichtenstein, 1968

Bicycle Wheel (Third Version)

Marcel Duchamp, 1951

Broken Obelisk

Barnett Newman, 1963 – 69

The Chariot

Alberto Giacometti, 1950

Sculpture for A Large Wall

Ellsworth Kelly, 1956 – 57

Geometric Mouse, Scale A

Claes Oldenburg, 1975