Work in Focus: Sun, Church in Zeeland 1910 Piet Mondrian

Sun, Church in Zeeland dates from the middle period of Mondrian's working life, when excursions to the coastal resort of Domburg yielded a series of new pictorial themes; seascapes, sand-dunes and the facades of Gothic church towers.

The fabric of the painting is built-up of dabs of ultramarine blue, yellow and red, together with admixtures of white. Mondrian's use of colour (which demonstrates his knowledge of Fauvism and Neo-Impressionism) suggests an attempt to convey the mystical significance of the subject, rather than any rational depiction of optical effects.

By the early 1920's Mondrian had removed all traces of figuration from his work, producing paintings composed entirely of hard-edged blocks of the primary colours, plus white and grey, placed within a grid of horizontal and vertical black bands

These mature works achieve a meditative simplicity, fully attuned to Mondrian's belief in transcendental spiritualism.