Tableau no. 2 / Composition no. V
Piet Mondrian
Dutch, 1872–1944
1914
An oil on canvas in which Mondrian arranges a mosaic of soft rectangular color planes—muted pinks, grays, and ochres—outlined with dark seams to test balance, rhythm, and the painting’s internal architecture.
It looks like a hand-painted grid or stone wall: tactile, slightly scumbled rectangles sit in offset rows while uneven black lines between them create a vibrating, architectural cadence.
Executed on the eve of his turn to pure abstraction, this 1914 work documents Mondrian’s experiments in breaking form into planar relationships and color harmonies that paved the way for his later De Stijl grids and much of modern geometric abstraction.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
21 5/8 x 33 5/8" (54.8 x 85.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection
Accession
633.1967
Palette
Exhibitions
