New painting: After Mondrian

Before I started on the Four Humours series I did this oil painting inspired (of course) by Mondrian's Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow. I recreated Mondrian's composition using coloured paper cut-outs, then screwed them up and unwrinkled them to remake the image. I then took a photo of this (lit from one edge) and used this as the basis of the painting.


It's a bit of fun really, playing with two different traditions, but I think the texture and lighting bring something 'warmer' and 'softer' than Mondrian's original. I wasn't much of a Mondrian fan until I saw a number of them displayed together at Tate Modern. My emotional reaction to them was quite unexpected, which was partly due to the lighting in the gallery. You can't beat seeing paintings in the flesh rather than in books or on display screens.