Near Arnhem

Robert Welsh has kindly suggested that the town in the distance must be Arnhem. It belongs to a series of works which Mondriaan painted in the neighbourhood of Arnhem. During this period the painter stayed occasionally with his father Pieter Mondriaan Sr. who had recently moved from Winterswijk to Arnhem. Welsh has identified this watercolour 'near Arnhem', with the watercolour shown at the exhibition at 'Arti'; the society of artists in Amsterdam, which took place late 1901 and spring 1902. In the 'Arti'-catalogue this watercolour was titled 'near Arnhem' (R. Welsh, op.cit). We know of another painting with a view on Arnhem (sold in this saleroom on 14 December 1989, lot 193) in the collection of Mrs L. Woltje-van den Hoever Lesnard. It is very likely that Mondriaan painted the view from about the same spot, though looking in a different direction. The checkered fields in this picture enliven the gently sloping hills around the city of Arnhem, with the Rhine valley in the hazy distance.

See colour illustration