Chrysanthemum

As pioneer of the school of geometric abstract painting, Mondrian painted a great number of single floral still lifes at different stages of his career, surpassing his abstract geometric works in number. Through intensive observation and depiction of flowers, Mondrian devoted himself to the exploration of the structure, color and spirituality of nature while gradually abandoning a naturalistic style and developing his own pure abstract form. Chrysanthemums are amongst the flower varieties that Mondrian most loved to depict. This Chrysanthemum from 1909 is close in form and year of creation to the New York Guggenheim Museum’s Chrysanthemum (1908-09), with the latter most likely being a drawing study for the 1909 Chrysanthemum shown in this exhibition.