“Still Life with Gingerpot 1” is an oil on canvas artwork by Piet Mondrian, created in 1911. This piece is part of the Cubism art movement and measures 65.5 by 75 cm. It is currently housed at the Gemeentemuseum den Haag in The Hague, Netherlands. This particular work is classified as a still life.
The painting presents a composition of various objects that are typical of a still life, all depicted with the geometric fragmentation characteristic of Cubism. The central feature of the artwork is a ginger pot, which displays a spherical body and a defined circular opening at the top. The blue and white of the pot provide a visual contrast within the predominantly muted and earthy palette of the composition.
The objects surrounding the ginger pot seem to include books, a saucer, and several other geometrically treated elements that blend into the fragmented background. Differences in texture and color are used to distinguish between the forms, but there is also an interplay between the objects and the space around them, a fundamental principle of Cubist artworks. The painting employs a restricted color scheme dominated by browns, yellows, whites, and blues, and utilizes thick, expressive brushstrokes, bridging between early Cubism and Mondrian’s later move towards pure abstraction.
