Originally published in Dutch to accompany a 2014 exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (now Kunstmuseum Den Haag), this important survey of a pivotal period in the life of Piet Mondrian is now available in English. Drawn to the Cubist work of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, Mondrian spent two years in Paris, from 1912 to 1914, that led him to begin experimenting with an entirely original abstract style. Using a cubist palette of grey and ochre, the artist transformed the landscapes and architectural facades of his earlier figurative works into compositional structures of increasing complexity and abstraction. Upon his return to the Netherlands in 1914, the artist exhibited the 17 works he had painted during those two significant years in France. This volume maps Cubism's influence on artists working in the Netherlands at that time, and demonstrates Mondrian's central role in bridging the gap between the French Cubists and their Dutch contemporaries. Accompanying over 300 illustrations - including close details of key works - is a chronology by Mondrian expert Hans Janssen tracking the artist's development within the context of its time.

This publication spotlights the celebrated modern artist Piet Mondrian's early career, a prolific period that saw the artist focus on figurative landscape painting. Primarily made during the artist's time in Amsterdam at the turn of the twentieth century, Mondrian's dense, small-scale paintings depict the surrounding Dutch landscape - notably irrigation ditches, canals and farm buildings. The compositions are characterised by complex interactions of light and dark planes, which the artist forms through thick, pigmented strokes of green and brown paint. Marking the last decade of the artist's engagement with figurative painting, Mondrian's exploration of the interrelationships between colour and space during this period forms the basis for his subsequent abstract works, whilst reflecting the artist's lifelong interest in nature.

Nachdruck des Originals von 1937 ber die Mundarten Ostfrieslands.