François Morellet (French, born 1926) Geometree No. 51, 1984 Tree branch and acrylic on canvas, 78 3/4 x 78 3/4" Gift of the artist, 1984

François Morellet won't tell us exactly what his paintings are all about. He doesn't believe in the idea that an artist is a genius who tells people what they should see and think about art. He thinks the people looking at art are the real geniuses, and that we need to come up with our own interpretations based on what we know and think.

Morellet created many works called Geometree—at least 51 of them, since that's the number he gave this one. The word "Geometree" is a made-up combination of two words: tree, which refers to nature; and geometry, the kind of math that studies shapes like the ones you see in the painting. This makes the title a pun, which means that someone has been playing games with words. But the title is more serious as well. Many people believe that science and technology are destroying nature, and also taking away some of its mystery. But Morellet put a tree branch in a painting with very precisely painted shapes! What might he be trying to say about the relationship between science and nature?

How do you think the artist made this? Did he paint his shapes and then go searching for a tree branch to match? Or did he find the branch first and then paint the lines around it? The painted lines turn the tree branches into geometric shapes. Can you think of some examples of shapes that are found in nature?