Pointillist Dune Study, Crest at Left

This dune study shows an artist at one with his environment, with Mondrian having spent several summers in a row visiting this spot in Zeeland.

Tones of yellow, red and green are used to produce the beach setting, which Mondrian leaves fairly simple and was not aiming for extensive detail during this part of his career. The beautiful pointilist approach found in this painting can also be seen in a local church, with several depictions of the Zoutelande Church Facade. The skies in all of these works are first filled with a flat blue tone, before colours from elsewhere in the scenes are then carefully applied in small dabs of colour in a similar approach to that found in tiled mosaics. The effect from afar is of a consistent, blended look, whilst up close we can see each and every brushstroke made by the artist. In all, there were at least three different versions of this same dune setting, with the positions of the crest slightly different each time.

The sale of this piece at Christie's in New York in 1998 means that we do have a little more information on it than with the other artworks produced by Mondrian in Domberg between 1908 and 1912. The piece eventually sold for $717,500, well above its estimate, and this proved that interest in the work of this artist went way beyond just his famous neoplasticist pieces, such as Broadway Boogie Woogie and Victory Boogie Woogie. Its original owner from around the time of its completion was a man called S.B. Slijper in Blaricum, which is close to Amsterdam. It changes hands several times before the last owner passed away, leading to its sale in 1998.