''Gray Tree'' is an oil painting by

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

. This painting was made in 1911 on

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

on a board measuring 78.5 × 107.5 cm. It is exhibited at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague.gemeentemuseum
/ref> The work came at a time when Mondrian was beginning to experiment with

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

: its foreground and background elements seem to intermingle, and the palette is very restricted. The tree is subtly oval in form, following another Cubist practice seen in works by Pablo Picasso and

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...

. Mondrian's oval became explicit, framing the work, in paintings that followed over the next three or four years. ''Apple Tree in Flower'', also from 1912, is a similarly sized composition. Though the outline of the "apple tree" recalls that of ''Gray Tree'', the work is significantly more faceted and abstract.

References

Sources

* Milner, Johjhn (1992). ''Mondrian''. First American Edition. Phaidon Press. Pages 98–99. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray Tree Paintings by Piet Mondrian Modern paintings 1911 paintings