by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on September 28, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
About the painting
Piet Mondrian's Dune Sketch in Bright Stripes compresses a Zeeland dune view into broad, broken bands of yellow, lavender and blue. The dark blue sky meets a narrow yellow ridge; below it, short, almost horizontal strokes sweep through the pale foreground. The subject is still a dune landscape, but its colour and rhythm demand as much attention as the landform itself. The RKD catalogue identifies the work as A701, dated 1909, in Kunstmuseum Den Haag as object 0334291. The museum's title for that same object is Dune I (Duin I); it records oil on cardboard, 30 × 40 cm, from the Salomon B. Slijper bequest. The existing image on this page is the blue-and-yellow striped study, not Mondrian's differently coloured Dune IV.[1][2]
At a glance
- ArtistPiet Mondrian (Piet Mondriaan, 1872–1944)
- TitlesDune Sketch in Bright Stripes (RKD); Dune I / Duin I (Kunstmuseum Den Haag)
- Date1909
- MediumOil on cardboard
- Dimensions30 cm high × 40 cm wide
- CollectionKunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague; Salomon B. Slijper bequest
- Museum object number0334291
- Catalogue numberRKD A701[1][2]
Bright Stripes in Mondrian's Zeeland sequence
Dune IV (A707)
1909Contents
- What does the image show?
- Why did Mondrian use bright stripes?
- Is this Dune I or Dune IV?
- What can the records tell us about the original?
What does the image show?
The top third is a nearly continuous field of deep blue. It is not mechanically flat: lighter and darker horizontal marks interrupt the colour. Beneath it, a thin strip of bright yellow makes the first dune crest. The yellow widens and breaks into separate strokes as the eye descends. Lavender-blue passages run between the warm stripes, so the sandy ground seems to shift between shadow and light.
 The Red Tree Piet Mondrian.jpg)
A hollow or low area occupies much of the centre and foreground. Its boundaries are difficult to trace precisely because Mondrian does not outline every slope. Instead, clusters of strokes suggest shallow rises and dips. The left side leans into the picture with a broad cool curve; smaller yellow and orange accents on the right pull the eye outward. The landform can be read as a dune, but the painting also works as a sequence of long colour intervals.
Most of the brushwork runs sideways. This repeated direction ties sky, horizon and ground together, even though their colours differ sharply. Near the centre, pale lavender marks are crossed by yellow streaks; near the bottom, the marks become looser and more layered. Some strokes look like light striking sand, while others mainly mark the painter's movement across the small support. Close looking can describe those effects without claiming a precise beach location or time of day.
The original measures only 30 × 40 cm. On a screen, the image may seem large, but the object is a compact cardboard study. That scale helps explain its economy: a strong blue upper field, a yellow horizon and a handful of curving bands are enough to evoke an open coastal space. “Sketch” is part of RKD's catalogue title; the museum's own record uses the numbered title Dune I. Neither title changes the fact that the work is an oil painting on cardboard.[1][2]
Why did Mondrian use bright stripes?
Mondrian repeatedly visited Domburg on the Walcheren coast from 1908. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen describes his fascination with the area's light and his return to dunes, sea and nearby landmarks. The museum notes that in this period he used visibly parallel brushstrokes and colours unlike the literal colours of the objects. The blue, yellow and lavender bands in Dune Sketch in Bright Stripes make that experiment unusually clear.[3]
The stripes suggest the spread of the land toward the horizon, but they also hold the painting together as a surface. Yellow is not confined to one neatly bounded dune. It appears as a crest, a central accent and several shorter marks in the lower half. Blue similarly moves from the sky into the shadowed ground. These repetitions encourage the eye to compare areas that represent different parts of the scene.
Kunstmuseum Den Haag's account of Mondrian in Zeeland places him among artists interested in representing the region's distinctive light. Jan Toorop drew his attention to Domburg, and the local artistic circle explored increasingly bold treatments of landscape. This historical context supports reading the stripes as a way to investigate light and colour. It does not prove that each band stands for a named dune or a particular weather condition.[4]
The work is an early landscape experiment, not a finished example of Mondrian's later grid paintings. It still depends on a coastal subject and on irregular, hand-worked brush marks. Its abstraction lies in selection: a complex view is reduced to a few interacting directions and colours. That is visible within the 1909 study itself, without needing to force it into a simple story of inevitable progress toward the red, yellow and blue compositions.
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Watch on YouTubeIs this Dune I or Dune IV?
This is the work Kunstmuseum Den Haag calls Dune I, object 0334291. RKD's A701 entry calls that same object Dune Sketch in Bright Stripes. The title difference can look like two pictures in search results, but the matching museum object number proves that these are two names for one painting.[1][2]
Dune IV is separate: museum object 0334302, RKD A707, 33 × 46 cm, also from 1909. Its image is dominated by orange and pink banks under a blue sky. A701, by comparison, has a darker, almost uninterrupted blue sky and broad yellow-lavender stripes across its dunes. These differences in catalogue number, object number, dimensions and appearance distinguish the paintings even when their subject and date overlap.[1][5]
The much larger Duinlandschap (Dune Landscape) is another distinct object, B1 / 0334307, dated 1911 and measuring 141 × 239 cm. RKD places A701, A707 and B1 in its Zeeland coastal sequence, along with pointillist dune studies and views with beach and piers. Looking across these records shows a sustained investigation of similar material in different formats and colour structures. It is more precise than treating every dune title as a synonym.[1][6]
What can the records tell us about the original?
RKD supplies the catalogue title, A701, 1909 date and Hague object number 0334291. Kunstmuseum Den Haag supplies the title Dune I, oil on cardboard, 30 × 40 cm, the same object number and the Salomon B. Slijper bequest credit. These two institutional records can therefore be joined with confidence. The page keeps both titles visible so a reader can recognise the work in either catalogue.[1][2]
The museum record establishes ownership, but does not say that the painting is currently hanging in a public gallery. Nor does the title “bright stripes” specify which exact stretch of coastline Mondrian observed. The supported account is narrower and stronger: this is a documented 1909 Zeeland dune study, with its object identity fixed by 0334291.
Mondrian artworks directory
Frequently asked questions
When was Dune Sketch in Bright Stripes painted?
Why does the museum call it Dune I?
Where is the original?
It belongs to Kunstmuseum Den Haag, credited to the Salomon B. Slijper bequest. The collection record does not establish current gallery display.[2]
What is its size and medium?
It is oil on cardboard, 30 cm high by 40 cm wide.[2]
Is it the same as the orange and pink Dune IV?
Discussion
Which yellow stripe first reads as a dune crest?
Reader Insights
Follow a yellow band across the pale foreground. Where does your eye stop?
Which lavender passage most strongly changes the yellow around it?
How does A701 differ from the orange and pink A707 dune study?
Join the Conversation
Share what you notice in this painting below.
References
- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, digital Mondrian catalogue, Zeeland coastal sequence: Dune sketch in bright stripes A701, 1909, Kunstmuseum Den Haag 133-1971 / 0334291, and adjacent distinct works. View source.
- Kunstmuseum Den Haag, collection record for Dune I, 1909, oil on cardboard, 30 × 40 cm, object 0334291, Salomon B. Slijper bequest. View source.
- Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dunes, the Sea, and Towers, on Mondrian's Domburg visits, coastal subjects, parallel strokes and heightened colour. View source.
- Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Light of Zeeland, on Mondrian and the Domburg artistic circle. View source.
- Kunstmuseum Den Haag, collection record for the separate Dune IV, object 0334302. View source.
- Kunstmuseum Den Haag, collection record for the separate large Dune Landscape, object 0334307. View source.
- Lead image credit. Piet Mondrian, Dune Sketch in Bright Stripes (Dune I), 1909, oil on cardboard, 30 × 40 cm, RKD A701; Kunstmuseum Den Haag 0334291, Salomon B. Slijper bequest.
