Still, there are many notable examples of 20th century paintings inspired by mathematics and mathematicians, for example Salvador Dalí’s (1904-1989) 'The Swallow’s Tail' (right) from his series on catastrophe theory.
And statistics and statisticians? Perhaps not glamorous enough to be immortalised thus. The closest it gets is probably 'Suprematist painting: Eight red rectangles' (left) by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935)
Two aspects of this painting are evident to any statistician: the subtle randomness of its composition and, yes, Malevich was in all probability a precursor of the boxplot.
Was this the inspiration for a splendid, unnamed mural (below) off Oxford Street in London?
We think so.
The untraceable artist(s) – possibly called London Fancy? – have shown how we can subvert academia and infiltrate the postmodern urban subconscious. Watch the marginal spaces near you for the coming efflorescence of situationist statistics.
