River view with a boat Sun 1907

Piet Mondrian made this moody oil painting of a river view with a boat, but no one knows exactly when. Look at the paint and the way it catches the light in the sky. Imagine the scene in real life. The air must have been damp. Mondrian’s been out painting en plein air. I wonder, what does that feel like? I bet it was hard to balance his easel on the muddy bank. Maybe he dropped his brush, or was distracted by the sun in his eyes. The dark form of the tree on the left looms like a shadow of the grid paintings to come. This landscape is so still. But the subtle movements of brushstrokes are about to give way to a revolution. I imagine other painters seeing this work, and they start wondering too. What new territory can painting map? The conversation goes on.