Skip to content
Click to preview on a wall
Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue by Piet Mondrian

Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue

By Piet Mondrian, 1921

This painting perfectly captures Piet Mondrian's signature style, where he stripped art down to its most basic elements: straight black lines, white backgrounds, and the three primary colors. Working in the early 20th century, Mondrian believed he could express universal harmony and order through these simple geometric forms. He spent years refining this approach, carefully balancing each composition until every element felt just right.

What might look effortlessly simple actually required intense thought and countless adjustments. Mondrian would obsess over the exact width of each black line and the precise size of each colored rectangle, moving them around until he achieved perfect balance. The small blocks of blue, red, and yellow aren't randomly placed but carefully positioned to create visual equilibrium with all that white space. This approach to painting influenced everything from architecture and furniture design to fashion, proving that sometimes less really is more.

More by Piet Mondrian
Composition with White and Black
Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Black, Yellow, and Gray
Composition in Colors
Composition Trees II
Composition
Composition I with Red and Black
Composition 8
Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue
New York City (version 3)
Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow
Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray, and Blue (version 1)
Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray, and Blue (version 2)
Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray, and Blue (version 3)
New York City (version 1)
New York City (version 2)
De Stijl
Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue
New York City (version 2)
Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow
Composition 8
Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray, and Blue (version 1)
Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray, and Blue (version 2)
Composition
Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue
Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray, and Blue (version 3)
Composition in Colors
New York City (version 3)
Composition I with Red and Black
Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Black, Yellow, and Gray
New York City (version 1)
Composition Trees II
Composition with White and Black
Abstract

Similar tones

Winter Morning, Sullivan Co
View of Madrid from the Plantío de los Infantes or Madrid Seen from El Pardo
Wonderer above the sea fog (section)
Frida Kahlo
Royalty at Home
Carte réduite des mers coimprises entree l'Asie et l'Amérique apelées par  les navigateurs mer du sud ou mer pacifique, 1776
Phenomena Falcon's Bell
White Pansy (rotated)
Canal St Denis
Settler's Log House
Whisky Sweet (section)
First flight