The present lot belongs to a group of more than nine paintings, drawings and watercolours which Robert P. Welsh names 'The isolated trees' series (Welsh, op.cit, Robert P. Welsh, Piet Mondrian's early career, New York, London 1977, p. 155-117).These works are characterized by a singel tall tree, constituting the vertical element in the composition and surrounded by low bushes. The subject series is particularly varied in compositional formats and styles of execution, although a sense of evening calm predominates in most examples. In the present lot the use of luminous back lighting, rich colouration in the trees and shadow areas and the freedom of brush work, are charateristic for Mondriaan's mature naturalistic style.
Mondriaan's main subject in the years 1905-1907 was landscape painting. In his essay Towards the true vision of reality written in 1942, he refers to his early career: "I preferred to paint landscapes, houses etc. by grey dampy weather or by very strong sunlight when the atmosphere by its density [blurrs] the particularities and the great lines accentuated themselves. I sketched by moonlicht, cows lying down or staying immovable on Dutch flat meadows or houses with their dead windows. I hated movement in particular, people in action, etc...'.
Mondriaan used a single motif for a series of studies which he varied in countless versions, often in different media. The distintive depiction of water with its surface reflections appears most frequently. In facts its prevalence implies that Mondriaan's concern with the subject was more significant than mere natural observation. Herbert Henkels states that for Mondriaan light had a symbolic value and was seen as a source of life (Herbert Henkels, Mondrian from Figuration to Abstraction, exh.cat. Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo/The Hague, 1988, p. 176)

Sold with a photocertificate by Prof. R.P. Welsh, dated 8 October 1991
See colour illustration