Piet Mondrian
Dutch, 1872­1944
Diagonal Composition
1921
Oil on canvas
60.1 x 60.1 cm
Gift of Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., 1957.307
Courtesy of Mondrian Estate / Holtzman Trust, Essex, Connecticut

This abstract, geometric painting by the artist Mondrian may seem far removed from nature, but the artist’s basic vision is rooted in landscape, especially the flat fields of Holland outlined by a network of roads and canals. 

Mondrian reduced natural forms to their simplest lines and used primary colors. His paintings reveal an exacting attention to the subtle relationships between lines, shapes, and colors.