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The Conversation
The Conversation
Mitchell Newberry, Research Assistant Professor of Biology, University of New Mexico

Art and science illuminate the same subtle proportions in tree branches

Tree branches in art throughout history follow geometric rules related to fractal geometry. 'Almond blossom' by Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Do artists and scientists see the same thing in the shape of trees? As a scientist who studies branching patterns in living things, I’m starting to think so.

Piet Mondrian was an early 20th-century abstract artist and art theorist obsessed with simplicity and essence of form. Even people who have never heard of Mondrian will likely recognize his iconic irregular grids of rectangles.

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