Church Façade

Piet MondrianWW-1914-046667

1914·Charcoal, with erasing, on off-white laid paper·63.3 × 48.3 cm (24 15/16 × 19 1/16 in.)

<p>The title, date and author of this drawing are all open to question. In 1969, the scholar Robert P. Welsh suggested that this sheet was linked to a series of compositions Mondrian made around 1914, based on the facade of a church in the town of Domburg, the Netherlands. This drawing has appeared in an exhibition at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1971, and was previously in the collections of artists Yves Tanguy (1900-1955) and Leon Kelly (born 1901). Nevertheless, 20th-century art-including works by Modigliani and Matisse, for example-has been a popular target of forgers, and Mondrian's authorship of this drawing will continue to be the subject of disagreement.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1914
Medium: Charcoal, with erasing, on off-white laid paper
Dimensions: 63.3 × 48.3 cm (24 15/16 × 19 1/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Piet Mondrian

Artist

Piet Mondrian

Painting

Born as Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan in 1872 in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, Piet Mondrian began studying drawing at the age of 14. Despite his certainty that he wanted to pursue a career in art, Mondrian first earned a degree in education at the insistence of his family. Though he was in a position to assume a teaching role following his studies, he instead undertook painting classes near his hometown before moving to Amsterdam to study at the Rijksacademie, exhibiting for the first time 1893.

Amersfoort, Netherlands

Full artist profile →