Throughout his whole career, even while he was devoted to pure abstraction, Mondriaan continued to paint flowerpieces. As a result, the dating of chrysanthemum still lifes is relatively difficult.
According to A.P. van den Briel the flowers are a catagory by themselves, a closed priviliged group:"Sometimes by fits and starts, he wanted to paint just like that. This has a much deeper meaning. A memory of something vastly beautiful he had experienced, and something sad. He did remark once or twice that it hurt him to do those flowers. They reflect much of Mondrian's inner life as an individual and as a painter." (letter from A.P. van den Briel to J.M. Harthoorn in: J.M. Harthoorn, Mondrian's creative realism, Mijdrecht 1980, p. 15)

See colour illustration