Mondrian Tumbler

Acrylic on gessoed birch panel, 11 x 14"

Painting #217, 2013

Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch-born artist who is mostly recognized as one of the pioneers of Modern Art and is the epitome of the abstract painter. He is one of those artists whose entire body of work could be described as transient. Evolving from representational to non representational forms of art. Initially starting out with Impressionism, Pointillism, Fauvism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism then transitioning to more abstract forms of art. He is a major contributor to the Dutch De Stijl or Neoplasticism art movement. He is most celebrated for his grid-like paintings of vertical and horizontal black lines; using the primary colours, red, yellow and blue and placing them in contrast to the non-colours black, white and grey. He spent much of his professional life abroad in Paris, London and New York City. 

As mentioned in the previous post, this past January, my wife and I travelled to New York City for a 4-day winter getaway. During our previous past three visits to the Big Apple, we had always visited the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). This time around, we only had time for a quick stop at the MOMA Store to browse through their art book selection. Upon entering, I saw these Mondrian Tumblers on a shelf which I simply could not resist. They are made exclusively for the museum. The composition for this painting needed to remain minimalistic and simple. My love of painting with the primary colours and glass made it an easy decision to pay homage to this artist. When ever I see a Monopoly Game board, I think of Mondrian.

photo from our visit to the MOMA in Oct. 2010.

Interesting trivia- During the 1920's in Paris, Mondrian became a very accomplished ballroom dancer. 

This painting will be included in the upcoming group exhibition, The Still Life at the Elliott Fouts Gallery, October 5-31, 2013.

Elliott Fouts Gallery  

1831 P. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95811
Phone (916) 736-1429
e-mail: efgallery@sbcglobal.net
-SOLD