Composition 2 1929

Piet Mondrian made this painting called Composition 2 with oil paint. Look at that bright red rectangle dominating the top right corner. I wonder, when Mondrian was painting it, if he felt like he was building something, stacking these blocks of color like architectural forms, but on a canvas instead of in a city. The black lines aren’t just boundaries; they’re active players, determining the rhythm and balance of the whole composition. And that little yellow square right at the bottom, what is that about? It’s like a tiny sun, a last-minute addition, adding just enough warmth to the cool blues and whites. I always think of Mondrian in relation to other painters like Malevich, and all the other painters exploring simple forms. They’re all in dialogue, asking: how little can we do and still say so much?