Mondrian's New York Studio

Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was the greatest Dutch artist of the last century. He lived in Paris for most of his active life, but moved to London in 1938 and on to New York in 1940, until the end of his life.  This is a maquette of his studio in the city. It's at the Gemeente Museum (Municipal Museum), which we visited today.  In the sense that I think of the Prado as a temple to Velázquez, this museum is a temple to Mondrian. It includes the largest collection of his work in the world, from his beginnings with realistic landscapes to abstraction beginning around 1908, climaxing with "Victory Boogie Woogie"--his last, unfinished work, visible here in the left rear corner of the studio.  Mondrian is a favorite of mine--above the trees he created from 1908 to 1912 as he moved into abstraction. It was a real treat to see over a dozen of them. Afterwards Marylee headed back to the hotel and I briefly visited the  Fotomuseum next door (for photography)--nothing special to report from there.