Stammer Mill with Streaked Sky

Artist Piet Mondrian (Dutch, 1872 - 1944)

Date1905-1907

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 29 1/4 × 38 inches (74.3 × 96.52 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the George H. and Elizabeth O. Davis Fund, 2016.1 In honor of Henry Bloch, presented at the occasion of the Society of Fellows 50th Anniversary.

Object number2016.1

SignedLR: Piet Mondriaan (Note: after 1907 Mondrian spelled his name with only one "a")

MarkingsUpper left corner on frame in red marker: 368

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

Modern Art

Terms

DescriptionA horizontally oriented landscape with a dark, reddish-brown windmill depicted slightly to right of center and forming a strong vertical against a broad expanse of sky. The sky is represented as three, wide horizontal bands: The upper and lower cloud bands are mauve. The center band is a luminous sky blue streaked with yellow and white. A thin, darker blue band (sky or sea?) marks the horizon line. A low-slung, red-roofed, dark cottage is situated at left. A gridded bridge stretches horizontally across the painting and is reflected in the water, as is the long, slender, bright red boat at left. A woman and Holstein-Friesian black-and-white cow are depicted crossing the bridge. The dark shadow of the windmill is reflected in the foreground water band, as are two pools of skylight.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Before Piet Mondrian became known for his orderly red, yellow, and blue geometric abstractions, he made more than 30 paintings of the windmills that dotted the Dutch countryside. With this painting, he began a shift away from earthy naturalism, and hints ofhis future work emerged.

The gridded windmill blades are in perfect vertical and horizontal alignment. Notice the swaths of yellow in the sky, the blue horizon line, and the red boat. This use of primary colors and geometric forms anticipates the colors and grids of his later compositions.

Provenance

With J. van Heyninge, Rotterdam, by 1944;

Jan (1908-1999) and Georgine (née van Rijn, 1906-1969) van Andel, Zwolle and The Hague, The Netherlands, 1944-1960 [1];

By descent to their daughter, Johanna Henriette Jacoba Mead (née van Andel, b. 1936), Belmont, MA, 1960-May 10, 1989;

Her sale, Impressionist and Modern Paintings and Sculpture (Part I), Christie’s, New York, May 10, 1989, lot 58, as Le moulin;

Impressionist and Modern Art (Day Sale), Christie’s, New York, May 10, 2001, lot 368;

Acquired after the above sale by an unknown private collector, until March 17, 2016;

Purchased from the private collector, through Christie’s Private Sales, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2016.

NOTES:

[1] According to Johanna Henriette Jacoba Mead, in a telephone conversation with MacKenzie Mallon, Specialist, Provenance, January 27, 2016, Georgine van Andel traded a seal fur coat for the painting during World War II. Jan and Georgine van Andel presented the painting to their daughter upon Joanna’s immigration to the United States in 1960, as a memento of her home country.

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