Description
Composition 10 in Black and White is a 1915 painting by Piet Mondrian, also known as Pier and Ocean: hundreds of short black horizontal and vertical lines and small crosses are scattered over an off-white ground, and together they form a large oval. The original, oil on canvas, is 85.8 cm high and 108.4 cm wide and belongs to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo in the Netherlands. Our painter paints it by hand in oil on canvas in 8 landscape sizes, from 40 x 31 to 190 x 150 cm, or to your own measurement, and we send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | Composition 10 in Black and White |
| Other titles: | Pier and Ocean · Komposition 10 in Schwarz und Weiß |
| Painter: | Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) |
| Year painted: | 1915 |
| Original size: | 85.8 cm x 108.4 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Cubism, early abstraction |
| Located at: | Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands (acc. no. KM 104.241) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Composition 10 in Black and White – Piet Mondrian
What does Composition 10 in Black and White show?
At first glance, only black dashes on a pale ground. Short horizontal and vertical strokes, some crossed into small plus signs, spread across the off-white canvas, but not at random: together they build a large oval that fills almost the whole surface.
The density is not even. Along the rim of the oval the dashes crowd into a darker ring, and towards the bottom centre they thin out, as if a bright stretch of water opened there. There is no colour on the canvas, only black and white, so the whole effect rests on the rhythm of the lines.
In the lower left corner the signature and date are clearly visible, P. MONDRIAAN ’15.
Where does the name Pier and Ocean come from?
In 1914 Mondrian stayed in the seaside resorts of Domburg and Scheveningen on the Dutch coast. There he drew the sea and the breakwaters that run out into the water, and in 1915 he painted this canvas from those drawings.
That is why it is also called Pier and Ocean. The vertical strokes recall the pier reaching into the sea, the horizontal ones the waves rolling towards the shore. Of the motif only the rhythm remains: the movement of water caught in short right-angled marks.
Before this, in Paris between 1911 and 1914, Mondrian had broken trees and façades down into grids of short lines and planes under the influence of Cubism. The sea gave him a subject with which to push that method one step further.
Why does the painting matter so much?
Because it is the first painting in which Mondrian used only black and white. It marks a turning point on his way to pure abstraction: nature is no longer depicted, and only the horizontal and vertical lines that hint at it remain.
From here the road leads to Neoplasticism, the style he developed around 1920 within De Stijl: only horizontal and vertical black lines, red, blue and yellow, plus white and grey. Anyone who knows his later grids can see in this canvas where they begin.
Born in the Netherlands in 1872, the painter later lived in Paris, from 1938 in London and from 1940 in New York, where he died in 1944. The Wikipedia article has more on this painting.
Where is the original?
The original belongs to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo in the Netherlands, accession number KM 104.241. The link to the painting’s page in the museum’s collection is in the table above.
So the painting has stayed in the Netherlands, the country whose sea it shows.
Composition 10 or another Mondrian?
This piece is for anyone who likes calm and order without the noise of colour. Black and white goes with any wall colour and any furniture: a minimalist or Scandinavian living space, an office, a study or a hallway.
If you like the same years but with colour, choose Composition (1916), where black dashes lie over soft red, blue and yellow planes. A year older is Composition 8, made in Paris, a grid of pink and ochre fields that recalls a façade.
Where this path began is shown by Gray Tree of 1911: a tree in greys whose branches settle into a slightly oval shape. For the other end of the road, the lively New York grid without black, there is Broadway Boogie Woogie. The Piet Mondrian page gathers the famous Mondrian paintings we paint to order, and the early ones too.
How does our painter paint your Composition 10?
In this painting there is no colour to hide a mistake, so every dash counts. The painter first transfers the outline of the oval and the exact position of the main groups of lines to the canvas, so that proportions and spacing stay as in the original.
Then he lays the warm white ground in several thin, even coats until it is smooth and nowhere translucent. Only on the dry ground does he set the black strokes, one after another, with crisp edges; where needed, he masks them with tape.
He takes particular care over the shift from the dense rim of the oval to the sparse bottom centre, because that shift gives the painting depth and movement. The result is a Mondrian reproduction with the soft sheen of oil and brushwork you can feel: an oil painting reproduction, not a print.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 40 x 31 or 50 x 40 cm for a shelf or a narrow wall, 65 x 50 or 75 x 58 cm above a chest of drawers or a desk, 95 x 75 and 120 x 95 cm above a sofa or a bed, and 150 x 120 and 190 x 150 cm for a large empty wall.
There are 8 landscape sizes (width x height): 40 x 31, 50 x 40, 65 x 50, 75 x 58, 95 x 75, 120 x 95, 150 x 120 and 190 x 150 cm. The original measures 108.4 x 85.8 cm. Closest to it are 95 x 75 cm, 13.4 cm narrower and 10.8 cm lower, and 120 x 95 cm, 11.6 cm wider and 9.2 cm taller.
As a painting for the living room above a sofa about two metres wide, 120 x 95 cm is the right choice. The fine dashes read better in larger sizes, so for this motif we suggest the small sizes mainly for narrow walls and shelves.
Is another size possible, and which frame suits it?
Of course. The original is roughly 5 : 4 in proportion; choose your size in a similar ratio and the oval stays whole. Send us the width and height you want and we will reply with a price and a delivery date.
Your Composition 10 leaves us rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or ready framed. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing, as it does for every canvas painting we sell.
Frames for the oval of dashes can be compared in our 3D application, whose only job is choosing the frame; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A narrow black or white frame suits the black-and-white composition, but it also works without one, simply stretched on its bar.
When will it arrive, and how do I receive it?
As soon as your order comes in, the painter starts work; within 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to ship. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting, and anything you would like different, we change.
Within the EU, Slovenia included, it travels without customs, and our returns policy applies to every order.
Composition 10 in Black and White makes a fine gift for an architect, a designer or someone who loves the sea. To leave the choice of size to the person receiving it, give a wall art voucher for the black-and-white sea instead.
Frequently asked questions
Which museum holds the original?
The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo in the Netherlands, accession number KM 104.241.
What do the black dashes stand for?
The sea by a pier: the vertical strokes recall the pier, the horizontal ones the waves. Mondrian painted it from drawings made on the coast at Domburg and Scheveningen.
Is this a print?
No. It is a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, with every dash drawn with a brush.
What are the dimensions of the original?
It is 85.8 cm high and 108.4 cm wide. Our sizes run from 40 x 31 to 190 x 150 cm.
Why are there no colours in the painting?
It is the first painting in which Mondrian used only black and white; with it he moved closer to pure abstraction.
Does it suit a bedroom?
Yes. Black and white is calm and goes with any bedding and wall colour; above a bed, choose 95 x 75 or 120 x 95 cm.
How long does it take?
From order to dispatch takes 15 to 45 working days, and before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting.
Is it a good gift?
Yes, especially for lovers of modern design, architecture or the sea. With a voucher the recipient chooses the size.
- Subject: hundreds of short black dashes and crosses on an off-white ground that together form a large oval: the sea by a pier.
- Original: 1915, oil on canvas, 85.8 x 108.4 cm, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 landscape sizes from 40 x 31 to 190 x 150 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: it is Mondrian’s first painting in black and white only.
