Artwork Page for Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue

Details / Information for Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue

Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue

1927

Piet Mondrian

(Dutch, 1872–1944)
Culture
Netherlands
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Framed: 62.2 x 62.6 x 10.8 cm (24 1/2 x 24 5/8 x 4 1/4 in.); Unframed: 49.5 x 49.5 cm (19 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1967.215
Public Domain
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Location
223 20th Century Avant-Garde
Print
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Did You Know?

The small strip of wood around the outside of the canvas, painted the same gray as the canvas surface, is Mondrian’s original frame for the painting.

Description

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.
Rectangular oil painting with solid black lines outlining squares and rectangles painted white, red-orange, blue, and yellow. The largest section is a central, white square, with a white rectangle above and beside it, in the lower left. Upper left are two square red sections. Right of the central white square runs a narrow yellow band against the canvas's edge while another narrow band below is divided half blue and half white. Fine cracks mark the smooth paint.

Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue

1927

Piet Mondrian

(Dutch, 1872–1944)
Netherlands

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