Composition in Oval with Color Planes 1

Piet Mondrian

Oil on canvas

Museum of Modern Art

Composition in Oval with Color Planes 1 is an oil on canvas painted by Piet Mondrian in 1914, during his Paris years, when his art was undergoing a decisive transformation under the influence of Analytical and Synthetic Cubism. The composition is structured within an oval format and built from a network of horizontal and vertical lines rendered in a palette reduced to the three primary colors—red, yellow, and blue—reflecting both the influence of Picasso and Braque's return to color in 1913 and Mondrian's own drive toward universal pictorial order. According to MoMA's documentation, the geometry of the work is directly based on sketches of partially demolished Parisian buildings, with visible references to exposed floors, chimneys, and patches of wallpaper. The painting stands as a pivotal transitional work in Mondrian's career, bridging his Cubist period and the rigorous pure abstraction—Neoplasticism—for which he would become internationally celebrated.