1908 — 1911

Marie Tak van Poortvliet and Jacoba van Heemskerck

Piet Mondrian is acquainted with the couple Marie Tak van Poortvliet, an art collector, and Jacoba van Heemskerck, a painter.

On his first trip in 1908, he visits them in their villa Loverendale, a newly built house in the dunes near Domburg. The villa is a popular meeting place for numerous artists and is also important for Mondrian – here, he can share his interest in theosophy and anthroposophy with like-minded people.

It is also conceivable that Mondrian made several sketches of a prominent tree in the garden of Loverendale here, which were to serve as preliminary studies for “The Red Tree” (1908–1910). Domburg is known as an artists’ colony: There, Mondrian meets, among others, the artist Jan Toorop, who opens an exhibition venue in Domburg, where Mondrian exhibits in 1911 and 1912. Incidentally, Jacoba van Heemskerck is part of the exhibition committee until she herself – somewhat later – becomes an important artist of the avant-garde movement Der Sturm. Over the years, Marie Tak van Poortvliet acquires several works by Mondrian from the Cubist and neoplastic periods.

1911 — 1914

A Network

In December 1911, Mondrian moves to Paris. There, he meets many artists, most of whom painted in the Expressionist-Cubist style.

He is influenced by the work of George Braque and Pablo Picasso, who are considered the inventors of Cubism. Although he often enjoys visiting cafés and clubs in the Montparnasse district, he never meets Braque and Picasso in person. Café du Dôme and Café de la Rotonde are popular meeting places for numerous artists and intellectuals. Among others, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, Willi Baumeister, Theo van Doesburg, and Amadeo Modigliani frequent these establishments, as does Diego Rivera, who – like Mondrian – has his studio on rue du Départ. It is only during Mondrian’s second stay in Paris that some of his friendships are documented by letters or other documents.

1914 — 1920

Salomon Bernard „Sal“ Slijper

During the First World War, Piet Mondrian is forced to stay in Laren, among other places. There, he meets the real estate agent Salomon Bernard “Sal” Slijper in 1915.

Slijper discovers the painting “Composition No. IV” (1914) in the inn De Linden. It fascinates him so much that he buys it from the innkeeper. Through her, the two meet; at first Mondrian is reserved, assuming Slijper is acting out of pity and not out of interest in his art.

However, since there is a genuine interest – and both gentlemen share a passion for quality clothing and good food, as well as for dancing and music – Slijper becomes a friend and patron of Mondrian.

When the latter returns to Paris in 1919, it is only because Slijper bought his pre-war paintings from him (without having seen them) and thus supported him financially. Even when Slijper stops buying works from 1922 onwards, they remain friends, especially since Slijper makes an effort to promote and exhibit Mondrian’s work.

When Slijper dies in 1971, he bequeaths his entire Mondrian collection to the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (now the Kunstmuseum Den Haag), which boasts one of the largest Mondrian collections in the world.

1920 — 1944 (Paris/ London / NY)

Marlow Moss

In 1929, Piet Mondrian meets the British artist Marlow Moss.

A. H. Nijhoff, Moss’s partner, already knew Mondrian from the Netherlands, so that they meet again in his Paris studio in 1929.

The formal language of their works is similar, and Mondrian and Moss respect and influence each other. Conceptually, however, there is a fundamental difference between the two artists: Mondrian paints intuitively; his strict formal language of lines and planes is based on the search for perfect balance. In contrast, Moss’s works are based on mathematical formulas, which is why the use of a ruler is important in the work. When Moss presents this theory in a letter to Mondrian, the latter dryly replies: “Numbers mean nothing to me.”

In 1930, two years before Mondrian begins using the double line, Moss had already tested it in abstract compositions. In a letter, he asks Moss to explain the use of the double line, which until then was extremely unorthodox within the strict formal language of Neoplasticism. Moss’s explanation has survived as follows:

„First: single lines split up the canvas so that the composition falls apart into separate planes [...].
Second: single lines make the composition static.
Third: the double line or a multiplicity of lines renders ‘a continuity of related and inter-related rhythm in space’ possible, which makes the composition dynamic instead of static.”

Mondrian admits in a letter to his artist friend Jean Gorin that he did not understand the theory. Nevertheless, he would later use the parallel lines himself, without referring to Marlow Moss’s authorship.

Creative Studio Friendships

Peggy Guggenheim

During his two-year stay in London, Mondrian meets Peggy Guggenheim, an American art collector, who would compile one of the hitherto most important art collections in the world.

In her gallery Guggenheim Jeune on Cork Street in London, Piet Mondrian exhibits in the group show “Abstract and Concrete Art,” which runs from May 10 to 31, 1939. There, he shows the paintings “Composition of Red and White: No. 1” and “Composition No. 2.”

In her autobiography, Peggy Guggenheim reports that Mondrian is a very good dancer, which suggests that they went out together. As a result of the outbreak of the Second World War, Guggenheim moves back to the United States. There, they both meet again; and since she highly appreciates Mondrian’s artistic mind, he becomes part of the selection committee of her museum. According to an anecdote, it was Mondrian who discovered the talent of the young artist Jackson Pollock and convinced Guggenheim, who found his works “quite awful,” to acquire them.

Charmion von Wiegand

In 1941, Piet Mondrian meets the artist and journalist Charmion von Wiegand in New York.

The latter works for the magazine “Living Age” and intends to write an article about Mondrian. This leads to a first interview from which a close friendship develops. Mondrian and von Wiegand meet regularly, mostly in his apartment at 353 East 56th Street. They talk about art and philosophy, as well as about theosophy. He values her opinion on his works: Letters reveal that he regularly asks her to reflect on his compositions. In Charmion von Wiegand’s diary, there is a sketch of the work that would later be titled “Victory Boogie Woogie.” A keen observer, she notes the developments in Mondrian’s works. “I like to talk to you because it helps my thoughts,” he is said to have told her.

Charmion von Wiegand also revised and corrected Mondrian’s English texts – among others, the essay “Toward the True Vision of Reality,” which is published on the occasion of Mondrian’s first solo exhibition at Valentine Gallery in New York in 1942. Mondrian’s English is not very good; and without Charmion von Wiegand’s assistance, many of his thoughts and texts would certainly not have been published in the form they were.

Notes by Charmion von Wiegand reveal that she fell in love with Piet Mondrian. He does not return her sentiments, however, and the two increasingly go their separate ways. By the middle of 1942, they have hardly any contact with each other. When Charmion von Wiegand begins to paint again in the fall of 1942 and tells Mondrian about it, he finds only scathing words: “You are a writer and I don’t want to know about your painting.” After Piet Mondrian’s death in 1944, Charmion von Wiegand embarks on an artistic career.