Description
Devotion is an upright painting by Piet Mondrian from 1908: a red-haired girl in a pale blue-and-white dress with a high collar is seen in profile, looking up towards a flower drawn high in the upper left, while loose strokes of blue, lilac, orange and red weave around her. The original, oil on canvas, is 94 cm high and 61 cm wide and belongs to the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. We paint it by hand for you in oil on canvas, in one of 8 portrait sizes from 29 x 46 to 128 x 191 cm or to your own measurement, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | Devotion |
| Other titles: | Devotie · Andacht |
| Painter: | Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) |
| Year painted: | 1908 |
| Original size: | 94 cm x 61 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Luminism, early modernism |
| Located at: | Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague (acc. no. 0334286) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Devotion – Piet Mondrian
What does Devotion show?
On the tall canvas sits a girl with red hair, seen strictly from the side. She wears a pale blue-and-white dress with a high collar, holds her head slightly raised and turns her gaze upwards, to a flower that Mondrian drew high in the left part of the painting. According to Wikipedia she is sitting in a chair.
Around her there is neither a room nor a landscape, only a field of loose brushstrokes: blue, lilac, orange and red flow around her head and shoulders. The red of her hair returns in those strokes, so the figure and the background melt into one glowing surface. The signature PIET MONDRIAAN stands at the lower left.
Who the girl was is not known. The painting tells no story; it shows only her gathered, quiet attention as she looks up.
What does the title mean, and why these colours?
The title Devotion names the bearing you see: the raised gaze, the still shoulders, the complete concentration. Apart from the flower above, nothing in the painting draws the eye away from that look.
The colours are not natural, and that was exactly what was new for Mondrian in 1908. That year, at the St Lucas exhibition, he was struck by the luminism of Jan Toorop, a style of bright, glowing colour, and Van Gogh too worked on his new palette.
The blue dress, the orange and lilac shadows and the red hair therefore do not copy reality; they carry the mood of the painting.
Why is the painting so well known?
Because it holds the moment when Mondrian’s palette opened up. Until then he had painted mostly Dutch landscapes, windmills and trees in muted tones; in Devotion the colour glows regardless of how things really look, and that was new for him.
With that change began a road that led him, a few years later, to pure abstraction. In Paris between 1911 and 1914 he simplified forms into grids of short lines, and in 1915 came Composition 10 in Black and White, his first painting in black and white alone.
Anyone who knows the famous Mondrian paintings with their later grids will find in Devotion an early, still figurative step on the same road. More on the painting is in the Wikipedia article, in English.
Where is the original, and who owned it?
The original is in the Kunstmuseum Den Haag in The Hague, accession number 0334286. It came to the museum as a bequest of the collector Salomon B. Slijper.
From 1912 to 1946 it belonged to Johannes Esser in Amsterdam, and in 1946 it passed to Sal Slijper in The Hague. It has been on show in the museum since 1951, which was then still called the Gemeentemuseum, and in 1971 Slijper left it to the museum together with his whole collection.
Devotion or another Mondrian?
Devotion suits a calm room: a bedroom, a reading corner, a hallway or a narrow wall beside a window. The upright format fits well on a wall between two doors or above a chest of drawers, and the soft blue and lilac strokes take nothing from the quiet of the room.
From the same year, 1908, comes Apple Tree, Pointillist Version, where a dark blue tree stands on an ochre-gold ground among small dabs of colour. Brighter still is Windmill of 1917, with a dark mill against a blue sky with pink clouds.
For lovers of trees there is also The Red Tree, which belongs to the same road from tree to grid. Every Mondrian reproduction we paint to order, from the early landscapes to the late grids, is on the Piet Mondrian page.
How does our painter paint your Devotion?
Here what counts is the loose, visible stroke, not a smooth surface. First the painter transfers the proportions of the figure to the canvas: the outline of the profile, the line of the collar, the position of the head and of the flower, so that the girl sits just as she does in the original.
Then, in oil on canvas, he lays in the pale dress and the red hair and sets the strokes of blue, lilac, orange and red around them. He leaves them visible and loose, as Mondrian left them, because they give the painting its glow; smoothed out, it would lose its life.
The result is a hand-painted reproduction with real body of paint. In daylight an oil painting reproduction like this shows the relief of the brushstrokes, which a print lacks.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 29 x 46 or 40 x 60 cm for a shelf or a bedside table, 48 x 75 or 55 x 85 cm for a narrow wall or a hallway, 70 x 110 and 81 x 120 cm above a chest of drawers or in a bedroom, and 100 x 155 and 128 x 191 cm for a tall wall in the living area.
You choose one of 8 portrait sizes (width x height): 29 x 46, 40 x 60, 48 x 75, 55 x 85, 70 x 110, 81 x 120, 100 x 155 and 128 x 191 cm. The original measures 61 x 94 cm; 55 x 85 cm is 6 cm narrower and 9 cm lower, while 70 x 110 cm is 9 cm wider and 16 cm taller.
As a painting for the living room, between two windows or beside a cupboard, 81 x 120 and 100 x 155 cm work best. Because the subject is a single figure, hang it so that the girl’s eyes sit a little above your own eye level.
Can I choose another size or a frame?
Yes. The original is upright, roughly 2 : 3; in that ratio there is enough room above the girl’s head for the flower in the top corner. Send us your measurement and we will reply with a price and a delivery date.
We send Devotion rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing, and it prepares every canvas painting we make in the same way.
You compare frames for Devotion in our 3D application, which is only for choosing the frame; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service. A slim gold or warm wooden frame suits Devotion, picking up the orange and red strokes.
When will the painting be with me?
We start painting your Devotion as soon as the order arrives, and within 15 to 45 working days it is ready to ship. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished painting; if you would like something changed, we change it.
Within the EU, Slovenia included, it travels without customs, and our returns policy applies to this order as to every other.
Devotion also makes a fine gift for someone who loves quiet, thoughtful art. If the person receiving it should choose the size, give them a wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
In the Kunstmuseum Den Haag in The Hague, where its accession number is 0334286.
Who is the girl in the painting?
It is not known who she was. The painting shows a red-haired girl in profile looking towards a flower.
Is it a print or a poster?
No. It is a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, with visible brushstrokes.
How big is the original Devotion?
It is 94 cm high and 61 cm wide. Our sizes run from 29 x 46 to 128 x 191 cm.
Does it suit a bedroom?
Very well. The girl’s calm bearing and the soft blues and lilacs belong in a bedroom or a reading corner.
How long does it take to make?
From 15 to 45 working days; before dispatch you get a photograph of the finished painting.
Why are the colours so bright?
In 1908 Mondrian was struck by the luminism of Jan Toorop, a style of bright, non-natural colour.
Can I have Devotion in a size that is not listed?
Yes, we also paint to measure; send us the width and height and we will reply with a price.
- Subject: a red-haired girl in profile, her gaze raised to a flower, surrounded by strokes of blue, lilac, orange and red.
- Original: 1908, oil on canvas, 94 x 61 cm, Kunstmuseum Den Haag.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 8 portrait sizes from 29 x 46 to 128 x 191 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: in 1971 Sal Slijper left it to the museum in The Hague with his whole collection.
