the grey tree, in the woods…
[digital photograph of a tree in the woods - may 2014]on a woodland walk, the shape of the tree presented itself; dark, splayed out and leafless, backlit by a low sun. only later did i notice that the digital image of the tree in the woods was recorded in greyscale, as the camera was on the 'text' setting. i rather like the result, it's quite grainy, like an old 1900s photograph.
Piet Mondrian, De grijze boom 1911 [Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag]this Mondrian painting is in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. there are some interesting Mondrian landscapes in their collection, together with many early abstractions (see the chequerboard paintings 1919). i haven't seen any of them. the Mondrian's i have seen (or the ones i most remember) were in the Museum of Modern Art in New York about ten years ago. i recall fixating on the quality of the painted edges, how slightly imperfect the blocks and lines were, having previously seen reproductions of the later grid paintings in books.The surface of things gives enjoyment, their interiority gives life.[Mondrian, note in a sketchbook, c.1911]