Tree (Horizontal Tree)
Artist
Piet Mondrian
(Dutch, 1872 - 1944)
Date1912
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 38 × 52in. (96.5 × 132.1cm)
Overall: 29 1/2 x 44in. (74.9 x 111.8cm)
Overall: 29 1/2 x 44in. (74.9 x 111.8cm)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number52.37
Description On View
On viewCollections
CopyrightMondrian/Holtzman Trust c/o HCR International USA, Washington, DC
Label TextThe motif of the tree engaged Mondrian intermittently for the first fifteen years of the twentieth century. His compositions transformed from landscape vistas to isolated, iconic trees painted expressively. For "Tree (Horizontal Tree)" Mondrian used a vibrant palette of red and blue and covered the surface of the canvas variably--the heart of the composition is a painterly, interlocking network, but both brushstrokes and paint thin as they branch out from the center of the image. Mondrian's paintings from this period represent his early attempts to refine his visual field into horizontal and vertical lines that symbolized a utopian ideal of harmonious balance.
Mary E. Murray
2005
Charles Ephraim Burchfield
July 28, 1916