Modern and Contemporary Art Opposition of Lines, Red and Yellow 1937 Piet Mondrian, Dutch, 1872 - 1944 Oil on canvas Currently not on view 1952-61-90 A. E. Gallatin Collection, 1952 |
ProvenanceA. E. Gallatin, New York, either consigned by the artist to Valentine Dudensing Gallery, New York, 1938, and then acquired by Gallatin, or acquired by Gallatin directly from the artist, probably in 1938 [1]; bequest to PMA, 1952. 1. The acquisition is first announced by the Museum of Living Art in a press release of October 28, 1939. Joop Joosten states that the paintings Mondrian was working to finish in December 1937 to be sent to the United States, including "Opposition of Lines: Red and Yellow" (see his letter to Winifred Nicholson, Dec. 27), were intended for Valentine Dudensing in New York (Joosten, Piet Mondrian: Catalogue Raisonné, 1998, p. 391). On the other hand, Gail Stavitsky argues that the painting could have been acquired directly from the artist during Gallatin's trip to Europe in the summer of 1938; she points to a visit to Mondrian in July recorded in Gallatin's appointment book (Gail Stavitsky, The Development, Institutionalization, and Impact of the A. E. Gallatin Collection of Modern Art [Ph. D. dissertation, New York University], 1990, v. 8, p. 203). This could explain why the back of the painting apparently has no shipper's sticker; possibly Gallatin took it with him? (in contrast to "Composition with Red," 1952-61-89 which has a shipping label of Lucien Lefebvre-Foinet). |
