Piet Mondrian (1872 - 1944) is best known as a pioneer of abstract art. However, he only started experimenting in this style around the age of 40, after leaving for Paris. Before then, he painted realistic scenes in which nature played a leading role. Exhibition Pure Nature focuses on Mondrian's figurative period.
Exhibition PUUR NATURE shows a selection of works from the period 1895 -1910. The exhibition shows a wide variety of subjects, including landscapes, portraits, flowers and still lifes. This shows how surprisingly versatile Mondrian was, even at this stage of his life.
Landscapes
Mondrian lived a lot in Amsterdam during his Dutch period, but also stayed in several villages in the Netherlands. The painter was in the habit of going out by bike and drawing or painting in the open air what he found there: vast landscapes, farms, cows in the stable or windmills with the characteristic Dutch clouds. Although the subjects of his works in this period are figurative, over time you can see that composition and lines become important to Mondrian. His use of colour also changes: from dark, brown tones, to more bright colours.
Portraits
During his Dutch period, Mondrian also painted many portraits. Some of these were painted on commission, bringing in money. He also often painted people from his circle of acquaintances. One of the people portrayed in the exhibition isFrits Mondrian, Piet's uncle. Besides being a barber, Uncle Frits was a painter of mainly landscapes in the style of the Hague School. From him, Piet learned the first tricks of the trade.
Amaryllis
Top piece in the exhibition is the red amaryllis with blue background. Early in his career, but also still in his abstract period, Mondrian regularly painted flowers. Usually a single flower, such as a chrysanthemum or an amaryllis, at the centre of the composition. The general view is that Mondrian made the flowers because there was a market for them, but given the great quality of these works, he must have enjoyed making them too.