View from Piet's Patio
width: 48"
height: 48"
Oil on canvas
1999
The reference in the title of this painting is to Piet Mondrian. Most Americans will immediately recognize Mondrian's mature work from the 1940's even if they do not know his name. Mondrian was the father of "Neoplasticism". He was known as a reductive abstractionist, a pioneer of nonrepresentational painting, a purist, etc. This painting pokes fun at Mondrian by including all that he removed from painting: curves, secondary colors, diagonals, representation, and departure from a very structured "grid" composition. In the early years of his career Mondrian painted flowers to pay the bills. He placed a red plastic rose with stem and leaves painted white on his studio wall in New York.
Other works in this series: