Beach with Three or Four Piers at Domburg

Mondrian would travel up and down the local beaches of Zeeland in search of the right angle from which to paint a variety of seascapes. He made use of piers and dunes to create added interest.

His tones were consistent throughout the entire series, even though they spread across several years, with the artist taking a vacation in this region ever summer. He appreciated the tranquility and was mainly focused on landscape painting at this time. There were touches of pointilism with these artworks, though not to quite the level of detail as those who specialised in that movement. He still bared some resemblance to impressionist styles too, and so he had essentially merged the two together. Whilst charming, these scenes would not have helped him gain international recognition by themselves, and were not groundbreaking as such, but they still present an interesting period of his life where he was continuing to work out who he was as an artist.

This painting from 1909 is held in a private collection but currently on an extended loan to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. It is 33.5 x 43 cm in size and features a sweeping dune face which covers most of the right hand side of the painting. A close inspection reveals four piers in total, but only two are clearly visible from a distance, hence the name of this painting. The waves crash against the shoreline, giving a more aggressive atmosphere than is found in many other paintings produced by Mondrian during his 1909 holiday in this region. He would return again and again, constantly seeking out new inspiration for his work. This has inspired other artists since then to follow the same path.