Art Sunday #121: Piet Mondrian – Evening: Red Tree

Evening; Red Tree is a 1908-10 oil on canvas painting by the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag.

This painting shows the artist’s luminist period where he painted realistically but with brighter than actual colors and simplifying contours. This painting is a cross-over to his more rectangular and analytical style. Mondrian painted this painting in the Zeeland coastal resort of Domburg, at that time a popular artist’s colony in the summer months. His trees illustrate his shift towards abstract cubism.

It was exhibited twice during Mondrian’s lifetime; the first time at the exhibition Schilderijen en teekeningen door C. Spoor, Piet Mondriaan en Jan Sluyters in the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in 1909. In 1910 it was shown at the 20th annual exhibition of members of nl:Kunstenaarsvereniging Sint Lucas in Amsterdam. It was sold for 500 guilders to Marie Tak van Poortvliet.

Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evening;_Red_Tree