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Newman posed the great Dutch modernist Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) in a setting that resembles one of his paintings. Placed just to the right of the central axis, the vertical support of an easel divides the composition, but not in half. Four rectangles—parts of the easel—break its clean lines. On the right is a blank white plaster wall, terminated at the bottom by the artist’s left hand casually arrayed over the cross bar of the easel. In the lower right corner is a detail of an early painting by Mondrian. On the left, the artist himself, dressed in a black suit, white shirt, striped tie, and circular glasses, gazes directly toward the viewer. While he is the focal point, he is off-center and below the mid-point. Above Mondrian are simple alternating bands of white and black, in emulation of one of his paintings.
A leading member of the Dutch modernist movement deStijl, Mondrian arrived at total abstraction about 1912, simultaneously with Wassily Kandinsky and Pablo Picasso. Mondrian’s style was characterized by a spare geometry. In his mature work, his palette was limited to black, white, red, blue, and yellow. His art was deliberative, studied, and time-consuming. In 1940 Mondrian, a fugitive from the Nazis, moved to New York City where he became enthralled with the energized pace of the international capital. In response, he painted a large-for-him canvas with syncopated visual rhythms. A tribute to his home in exile, he called it Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1942–1943, Museum of Modern Art.
Newman recalled several encounters with Mondrian: “I visited Mondrian a number of times that spring and fall of 1942 and watched him work. He told me that at his age he needed peace and quiet, and so he fled the war—first from Paris to England, then New York. At that moment, like a bad movie script, there was a rumbling and we rushed to the window. Below us, on First Avenue, a long row of Army tanks were lining up for the Memorial Day parade. He shrugged his shoulders and silently went back to work. One day, seeing me admire a small, rough drawing, on a work table, he told me he wanted to give me something, but that was not good enough. He made another more fully realized drawing, and gave it to me. Thoughtfully eyeing the second one, he asked me to photograph it for him. The drawings turned out to be the original studies for Broadway Boogie Woogie.”
Notes:
[1] Newman, quoted in Arnold Newman and Henry Geldzhaler, Artists Portraits from four Decades by Arnold Newman (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980), 13–14.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Piet Mondrian
Artist
Arnold Newman
(1918 - 2006)
Date1942
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsFrame: 19 1/16 x 13 3/4 in. (48.4 x 34.9 cm)
Image: 12 3/4 x 7 1/2 in. (32.4 x 19.1 cm)
Signed© Arnold Newman
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
CopyrightDue to rights restrictions this image can not be enlarged or viewed at full screen.
Object number1983.2.1
DescriptionAs he worked on his portraits of artists, Arnold Newman befriended many of them, and visited them several times. They often exchanged works, a common practice among artists, who generally could not afford to purchase the works they admired.Newman posed the great Dutch modernist Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) in a setting that resembles one of his paintings. Placed just to the right of the central axis, the vertical support of an easel divides the composition, but not in half. Four rectangles—parts of the easel—break its clean lines. On the right is a blank white plaster wall, terminated at the bottom by the artist’s left hand casually arrayed over the cross bar of the easel. In the lower right corner is a detail of an early painting by Mondrian. On the left, the artist himself, dressed in a black suit, white shirt, striped tie, and circular glasses, gazes directly toward the viewer. While he is the focal point, he is off-center and below the mid-point. Above Mondrian are simple alternating bands of white and black, in emulation of one of his paintings.
A leading member of the Dutch modernist movement deStijl, Mondrian arrived at total abstraction about 1912, simultaneously with Wassily Kandinsky and Pablo Picasso. Mondrian’s style was characterized by a spare geometry. In his mature work, his palette was limited to black, white, red, blue, and yellow. His art was deliberative, studied, and time-consuming. In 1940 Mondrian, a fugitive from the Nazis, moved to New York City where he became enthralled with the energized pace of the international capital. In response, he painted a large-for-him canvas with syncopated visual rhythms. A tribute to his home in exile, he called it Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1942–1943, Museum of Modern Art.
Newman recalled several encounters with Mondrian: “I visited Mondrian a number of times that spring and fall of 1942 and watched him work. He told me that at his age he needed peace and quiet, and so he fled the war—first from Paris to England, then New York. At that moment, like a bad movie script, there was a rumbling and we rushed to the window. Below us, on First Avenue, a long row of Army tanks were lining up for the Memorial Day parade. He shrugged his shoulders and silently went back to work. One day, seeing me admire a small, rough drawing, on a work table, he told me he wanted to give me something, but that was not good enough. He made another more fully realized drawing, and gave it to me. Thoughtfully eyeing the second one, he asked me to photograph it for him. The drawings turned out to be the original studies for Broadway Boogie Woogie.”
Notes:
[1] Newman, quoted in Arnold Newman and Henry Geldzhaler, Artists Portraits from four Decades by Arnold Newman (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980), 13–14.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
Published References
Status
Not on viewCollections