A Farmhouse Behind A Fence

A Farmhouse Behind A Fence is a 1904 painting by the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian.[1] It was completed early in his career, in 1904, when "the artist abruptly broke from his former life and went into rural seclusion in Brabant, a province in southern Netherlands."[2] He painted numerous canvases on a rural theme: "in his initial public appearances as a professional artist Mondrian was more concerned with supplying a product that would sell than defining his own personal style."[3]

A farmhouse behind a fence
ArtistPiet Mondrian Edit this on Wikidata
Yearc. 1904
Mediumoil paint, canvas
Dimensions20.5 cm (8.1 in) × 29.1 cm (11.5 in)
CollectionUnknown, Kunstmuseum Den Haag Edit this on Wikidata
IdentifiersRKDimages ID: 279649

Such paintings were before he developed the now more familiar abstract visual approach of the De Stijl movement. Nevertheless, the painting still shows the beginning of Mondrian's evolution: during this period "he produced paintings of traditional subject matter—Dutch farmhouses and windmills and rivers and forests—but rendered these themes in a very untraditional way ... [he] composed his representations, rather, out of bold abstract planes and broad brushstrokes of saturated colour."[2]

Despite the existence of a signature at the bottom left of the canvas, it was only attributed to Mondrian in 2004, by the art historian Joop Joosten.[4] The painting was added to the collection of the Kunstmuseum, The Hague, Netherlands in 2020.[4] It was acquired from a private collection hanging in Hoorn.[5]


References

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  1. ^ "10918x1y10015485". Kunstmuseum Den Haag. 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  2. ^ a b Weber, Nicholas Fox (2018). Piet Mondrian's early Years: The winding path to straight abstraction (PhD Thesis thesis). [Groningen]: University of Groningen.
  3. ^ Blotkamp, Carel (2001). Mondrian: The Art of Destruction. Reaktion Books. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-86189-100-6.
  4. ^ a b "Piet Mondriaan". rkd.nl. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  5. ^ "Piet Mondriaan | Paintings prev. for Sale | A farm behind a fence". Simonis & Buunk. Retrieved 2023-05-04.