One of Mondrian’s earliest paintings, this was the first in which he implemented his color palette of red, blue and yellow, the three primary colors. Also as one of his earlier paintings, it was still a clearly representational form of a tree. As a budding artist, Mondrian began painting simple pastoral landscapes of his home country, and these paintings evolved from those beginning artistic ideas. In the abstraction of the color of the tree and the simple design, Mondrian’s aesthetic style is already present in this simple landscape. This post-impressionistic piece was only a stepping stone in the artist’s development into his ideal form of neo-plasticism.
More ...Evening; Red Tree is a 1908–1910 oil on canvas painting by the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag.
This painting shows the artist's luminist period where he painted realistically but with brighter than actual colors and simplifying contours. This painting is a cross-over to his more rectangular and analytical style. Mondrian painted this painting in the Zeeland coastal resort of Domburg, at that time a popular artist's colony in the summer months. His trees illustrate his shift towards abstract cubism:.
During his first stay in Domburg, Mondrian reportedly made sketches of an apple tree in the garden of the Villa Loverendale, the home of Marie Tak van Poortvliet and her friend, the painter Jacoba van Heemskerck. The painting was completed during a subsequent visit to Domburg.
It was exhibited twice during Mondrian's lifetime; the first time at the exhibition Schilderijen en teekeningen door C. Spoor, Piet Mondriaan en Jan Sluyters in the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in 1909. In 1910 it was shown at the 20th annual exhibition of members of nl:Kunstenaarsvereniging Sint Lucas in Amsterdam. It was sold for 500 guilders to Marie Tak van Poortvliet.
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