Stammer Mill with Streaked Sky
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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.
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.