Summer (Dune in Zeeland)
PIET MONDRIAN
PIET MONDRIAN, 1910
Mondrian’s abstract, geometric squares came to define a new way of thinking in the 20th Century, but in 1910 he was experiencing a transitional period. Coming from formal training - his early work was impressionistic depictions of pastoral scenes - he retreated to the Holland Coast and began painting the Dunes of the Zeeland River. Here, over the course of two years, his work became increasingly abstract. Summer marks a turning point. Though still painting from life, the scene is freed from reality. It becomes a study of form and colour, with sweeping blue shapes polluted by bright yellow shadows. The natural world becomes an inspiration, not a muse.