Noticing lxi - Piet Mondrian does trees

When I think of Piet Mondrian (1872–1944), I think of this:

#2 Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue (1937–42)

or this:

Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black,
Gray, and Blue (1921)

These are examples of "neoplasticism," the style he exclusively explored in the latter half of his life, in which he simplified visual compositions to the most basic elements: straight line, the three primary colors, and the neutrals of black, white, and gray.

Yesterday, however, I encountered this:

Farm Near Duivendrecht, in the Evening (1916)

Totally different! And it turns out, he was really into trees. Here are some of those, for your viewing pleasure. I find them very beautiful. (As always, click on the image to view large and on black.)

Willow Grove: Impression of Light and Shadow (c. 1905)

Evening, Red Tree (c. 1909)

The Gray Tree (1911)

Horizontal Tree (1911)

Tree (1912)

Apple Tree, Blossoming (1912)

Tree II (1912)

Trees (1912)

In 1914, Mondrian wrote in a letter to painter, art critic, and collector H. P. Bremmer: "I construct lines and color combinations on a flat surface, in order to express general beauty with the utmost awareness. Nature (or, that which I see) inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional state so that an urge comes about to make something, but I want to come as close as possible to the truth and abstract everything from that, until I reach the foundation (still just an external foundation!) of things . . .
 "I believe it is possible that, through horizontal and vertical lines constructed with awareness, but not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to harmony and rhythm, these basic forms of beauty, supplemented if necessary by other direct lines or curves, can become a work of art, as strong as it is true."

He was definitely headed in the direction of pure lines and fields of color with these trees, but there is also a strong feeling of the organic, the living, of beauty and shape and form. Here is a good article on Mondrian's shift to abstraction, which occurred in conjunction with a 1911 Amsterdam show, "Moderne Kunstkring" (Modern Art Circle), which brought cubism to Holland. His trees tell the beginning of the story of this part of his evolution as an artist.