
© Estate of François Morellet / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Estate of François Morellet / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.


François Morellet
French, 1926-2016
Geometree No. 51, 1984
acrylic on canvas with branch
support: 78 3/4 x 78 3/4 inches (200.025 x 200.025 cm)
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Gift of the artist, 1984
1984:9
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Provenance
October 25, 1984, donated by the artist to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, BuffaloClass
Work Type
Information may change due to ongoing research.Glossary of Terms
During the early 1950s, François Morellet began creating paintings based on simple geometric systems such as patterns and grids. In his "Geometree" series, Morellet playfully explores the relationship between science and nature. The obvious pun in the painting’s title refers to the work’s combination of man-made and natural geometry, which is further conveyed by the artist’s use of a tree branch as the main compositional element. The branches’ shapes in Geometree No. 51 are repeated, continued, and complemented by the painted lines, yet at certain distances and angles, the lines meld together. The success of this combination challenges the notion that nature and science are opposite to one another.