Piet Mondrian Tableau no. 2 / Composition no. V 1914

  • MoMA, Floor 5, 503 The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Galleries

Mondrian first encountered Cubism in his native Holland in 1911; he moved to Paris the same year. Gripped by the visual experiments unfolding in the French capital, he adopted Cubism’s core principles but quickly pushed them to new extremes: he expelled recognizable references to subjects and brought Cubism’s underlying grid structure to the fore. This delicately hued painting—aptly compared to a “map” or “labyrinth” by one critic in March 1914—is thought to have originated from the artist’s study of the facade of the church of Notre Dame des Champs near Montparnasse.

Gallery label from 2024
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
21 5/8 x 33 5/8" (54.8 x 85.3 cm)
Credit
The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection
Object number
633.1967
Department
Painting and Sculpture

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Provenance Research Project

This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.

Acquired from the artist by Hendrik van Assendelft (1875-1928), Gouda, the Netherlands, 1914 [1]; by inheritance to his wife, Jacoba van Assendelft-Hoos, Gouda, the Netherlands, 1928 until at least 1946 [2]. E. Polak, Amsterdam/Suzanne Feigel, Basel, 1949 [3]; Sidney and Harriet Janis, New York, by 1951 [4]; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967 (The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection).
[1] One of altogether three paintings vam Assendelft purchased at Mondrian's first one-man exhibition, 16 composities van P. Mondrian, Parijs, showing sixteen of his works at Kunsthandel W. Walrecht, The Hague, c. June 15-July 31, 1914. See Robert P. Welsh and Joop M. Joosten, Piet Mondrian: catalogue raisonné, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998, vol. II-III, pp. 229-230, B45. See also ibid., p. II-105; p. III-28. Lender to the exhibition Alma, Le Fauconnier en Mondrian, Rotterdamsche Kunstkring, Rotterdam, January 31-February 28, 1915 (no. 63).
[2] See Welsh and Joosten 1998, p. 229, B45. The painting was still in the possession of Jacoba van Assendelft-Hoos in 1946: She lent the painting to the memorial exhibition Piet Mondriaan herdenkingstententoonstelling, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, November 6-December 16, 1946 (no. 77).
[3] Per Welsh and Joosten 1998, p. 229, B45.
[4] Lender to the exhibition 1900-1925: Exhibition of Paintings and Prints presented by the Cincinnati Art Museum as part of the First Cincinnati Biennial Festival of the Arts, Cincinnati Art Museum, February 2-March 4, 1951 (no. 27).

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