Trees Along a River

Piet Mondrian’s Trees Along a River, painted in 1907-8, exemplifies Mondrian’s early, figurative period. At first glance, it’s a far cry from the artist’s venerated grid paintings. But actually, Mondrian was interested in many of the themes and philosophies reflected in his later works when he painted Trees along a River. Most of the time, it’s Mondrian’s formal innovations that are emphasized - like his embrace of abstraction and geometry. But Mondrian’s paintings - both early and mature - demonstrate certain tenets of Theosophy, a religious philosophy with which Mondrian was engaged. Prior to World War 1, Mondrian was introduced to the ideas of Helena Blavatsky, a co-founder of Theosophy. Blavatsky believed that geometric forms were spiritual, that they represent the essential, that which is greater than the purely physical. Theosophy insisted that artists were capable of improving humanity by moving away from the physical and showing the “essential”.