“Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red” is an abstract artwork by Piet Mondrian, created between 1937 and 1942. The oil on canvas painting exemplifies the Neoplasticism movement, with its adherence to a strictly non-representational form. The artwork measures 72.5 by 69 cm and is currently housed at the Tate Modern in London, UK. This piece is characterized by its use of straight lines, right angles, and primary colors, which reflect Mondrian’s pure abstractionist philosophy.
The artwork presents a grid of black vertical and horizontal lines creating a series of white rectangles of varying sizes and proportions. The composition is punctuated by blocks of pure primary colors: a large yellow rectangle in the upper left region, a smaller deep blue rectangle near the bottom left, and a bold red square slightly off-center to the right. One might also note a tiny hint of blue adjacent to the red square. This strategic use of color, juxtaposed with the white spaces and enclosed by the precise, black grid, reveals Mondrian’s approach to creating a visual harmony, mirroring the simplified and fundamental aspects of beauty he sought to express through his art.
