New York City I - Piet Mondrian

A late abstract work by Piet Mondrian, featuring a grid of intersecting red, yellow, and blue lines on a white ground.

Piet Mondrian created New York City I in 1942, shortly after his arrival in the United States. This work marks a departure from his earlier compositions, which typically relied on black grid lines to define space. In this series, Mondrian replaced the black lines with strips of primary colours: red, yellow, and blue. These lines intersect across a white ground, creating a rhythmic structure that suggests the urban grid of Manhattan. The painting reflects Mondrian's interest in the energy of his new environment. By using coloured tape to plan his compositions, he allowed for a more fluid process of experimentation. The overlapping lines create a sense of movement, as the eye follows the paths of colour across the canvas. The absence of black lines gives the work a lighter, more open quality compared to his European period. The composition remains balanced, adhering to his principles of Neoplasticism, yet it captures a different tempo. This piece is part of a larger exploration of line and colour that occupied Mondrian during his final years in New York. The work demonstrates his ability to distil complex visual experiences into fundamental elements. The interaction of the horizontal and vertical lines creates a sense of order, while the specific placement of the colours introduces a dynamic quality. The painting does not represent the city in a literal sense, but rather conveys the experience of its structure and rhythm through pure abstraction. It remains a clear example of his late style, where the rigid constraints of his earlier work began to soften, allowing for a more direct engagement with the visual language of the modern city.