Who painted Composition in White, Red, and Yellow?

Composition in White, Red, and Yellow was painted by Piet Mondrian in 1936.

Where can I see Composition in White, Red, and Yellow?

Composition in White, Red, and Yellow is held by Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

What movement is Composition in White, Red, and Yellow?

Composition in White, Red, and Yellow is associated with De Stijl.

Artwork

Composition in White, Red, and Yellow

Piet Mondrian , 1936

Composition in White, Red, and Yellow is an oil painting by the De Stijl artist Piet Mondrian. It dates from 1936 and is held in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Created in 1936, this oil painting by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian exemplifies his mature abstract language. A stark white field is intersected by a network of black lines that form a grid of rectangles, some of which contain solid blocks of red and yellow. The composition balances asymmetry and order, presenting a visual rhythm that reflects Mondrian’s pursuit of universal harmony.

Subject & Meaning

The work reduces visual experience to fundamental geometric forms and primary hues, embodying Mondrian’s belief that art should express an underlying spiritual order. By limiting the palette to red, yellow, black, and white, the painting seeks to convey a sense of balance and purity, inviting viewers to contemplate the interplay of space, line, and color as a reflection of timeless principles.

Technique & Style

Executed in oil on canvas, the piece employs flat, unmodulated color fields bounded by precise, black, orthogonal lines. The rectangles vary in size, creating a dynamic yet restrained composition. Mondrian’s method aligns with the De Stijl aesthetic, emphasizing reduction to basic elements and a non‑representational visual language that rejects illusionistic depth in favor of planar clarity.

History & Provenance

After its completion, the painting entered the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where it remains on display. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s commitment to representing pivotal developments in 20th‑century abstraction and provides public access to a key example of Mondrian’s late work.

Context

The canvas belongs to the later phase of Mondrian’s career, during which he refined the principles of De Stijl that he helped formulate in the early 1910s. By the mid‑1930s, his approach had crystallized into a strict grid system, influencing subsequent movements such as Minimalism and Bauhaus design, and positioning the work within a broader trajectory of modernist abstraction.

Artist & collection

Artist

Piet Mondrian

Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (Dutch:; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, US also; Dutch: ), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician, who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.