Composition with Red and Blue
Piet Mondrian
Dutch, 1872–1944
1933
An oil on canvas in which Mondrian reduces painting to a grid of black lines, luminous white planes, and a single red rectangle and blue bar to pursue a sense of universal harmony through pure geometric abstraction.
Your eye is held by the stark black bars that order expansive white space, while the compact red block and slim blue stripe interrupt the calm with an exacting flash of color.
A hallmark of Neoplasticism, this work helped establish a modern visual language of pared-down form and color that reshaped painting and reverberated through design and architecture.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
16 1/4 x 13 1/8" (41.2 x 33.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection
Accession
635.1967
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
