Life and career
Mondrian began with recognisable Dutch landscapes before rethinking form through colour, Cubism and abstraction. Associated with De Stijl from 1917, he pursued dynamic relationships among lines and planes rather than a static decorative grid. His later migration and New York work opened further directions beyond the examples in this collection.
Works across a career
Selected examples, not a complete catalogue. Read date ranges and attributions before inferring a career sequence.
- 01
1905
1905
Landscape at Loosduinen
- Material / technique
- black chalk (extended with water in places), watercolor, and gouache; framing line in graphite (bottom edge)
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Museum catalogue note
Although Mondrian is best known for his De Stijl paintings and as a founder of modern, abstract art, he began as a landscape and figurative artist. Between 1897 and 1907, he executed about fifty landscapes each year, comprising nearly half of his entire oeuvre. In 1905, a large exhibition of Vincent van Gogh’s work was held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The spindly, bare trees, low horizon, and the lone peasant in Landscape at Loosduinen reveal the influence of the Dutch master upon Mondrian. The drawing’s degree of finish suggests that it was either done on commission or intended for exhibition and sale.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 - 02
c. 1907
c. 1907
Field with Young Trees in the Foreground
- Material / technique
- oil on paper laid on board
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Museum catalogue note
This painting depicts a field around the hamlet of Oele in the eastern Netherlands, where Mondrian lived during the summer of 1907. The evocative mood created by the trees silhouetted against a twilight sky suggests that Mondrian’s search for spirituality was present before he began painting completely abstract or non-objective compositions in 1916. Guided by readings in metaphysics and philosophy, Mondrian sought to achieve a higher spiritual reality in his paintings, which eventually led him to eliminate all representational elements in favor of a style of pure geometric abstraction.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 - 03
1927
1927
Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue
- Material / technique
- oil on canvas
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Museum catalogue note
During the 1910s, Piet Mondrian’s art progressed from Cubism to an increasingly abstract style based on the form of a grid. He completely abandoned the representation of natural appearances, limiting himself to horizontal and vertical rectangles and three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) along with black and white. Intensely intellectual and deeply philosophical, Mondrian believed that following the devastation of World War I, such abstract compositions could contribute to a more harmonious society by communicating in a universal, visual language.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0
Compare materials, style and colour
The 1905 and 1907 landscapes retain trees and fields, while the 1927 composition abandons descriptive scenery. Oil remains the medium, so the decisive changes concern representation, edge and colour relationships. Ask which earlier arrangements of verticals, horizontals and intervals continue to matter after recognisable objects disappear.
Material
What can this material do? Distinguish a design, an original object and a later impression or cast.
Style
Compare viewpoint, edges, composition and marks. Which choices persist, and which change?
Colour
Compare palette, contrast and light. Consider the support, printing, surface treatment and ageing.
Sources and further reading
Original educational interpretation; catalogue descriptions are separately credited. Each study links to its source. Reference entries without images are not added to the comparison timeline.