Spring Sun (Lentezon): Castle Ruin: Brederode

Piet Mondrian

Oil on masonite

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

Spring Sun (Lentezon): Castle Ruin: Brederode depicts a weblike network of bare tree branches through which the crumbling ruins of Brederode Castle are distantly visible, suffused in the luminous atmosphere of a spring day. Executed in oil on masonite with a broken, almost pointillist brushwork, the painting reflects Mondrian's deep engagement with Post-Impressionist techniques and his close observation of light and atmosphere in nature. At this stage of his career, Mondrian—born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan in the Netherlands in 1872—was moving through a period of intense stylistic exploration, absorbing influences from Pointillism and Fauvism before his eventual turn toward Cubism and abstraction. The fragmenting of landscape forms in this work marks a transitional moment on the path toward the radical geometric abstraction for which Mondrian would become celebrated worldwide.