Description
Windmill is a painting by Piet Mondrian from 1917: a tall dark-brown Dutch windmill, seen from below, rises into a blue sky with pink and white clouds, and its sails cut diagonally across the upper half of the canvas. The original, oil on canvas, is 99.5 cm high and 94.6 cm wide, so almost square, and belongs to the Dallas Museum of Art in Texas. Our painter paints it by hand in oil on canvas in 8 sizes from 35 x 35 to 190 x 200 cm or made to measure, and you receive a photograph of the finished painting before it leaves us.
| Title: | Windmill |
| Other titles: | Die Windmühle · Il mulino a vento |
| Painter: | Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) |
| Year painted: | 1917 |
| Original size: | 99.5 cm x 94.6 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Luminism, early modernism |
| Located at: | Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas (acc. no. 1989.142) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 8 sizes or made to measure |
Windmill – Piet Mondrian
What does Windmill show?
A single mill stands at the centre. Mondrian places it so high that it almost fills the canvas, and shows it from a low viewpoint, as if you were standing right at its foot. The dark-brown body of the mill narrows towards the top, while the sails spread like a large slanting cross over the upper half of the painting.
Behind the mill opens a pale blue sky crossed by pink and white clouds. High on the left glows a small yellow moon that you only notice up close. The mill stands on a dark mound, and below it run loose horizontal strokes of blue, grey and pink.
The brushwork is free and plainly visible. The colours are lighter and more luminous than in a real landscape: the sky almost burns, while the shadow of the mill stays warm and brown.
What does the mill mean in Mondrian’s work?
Windmills were among his favourite motifs in his early years, when he painted the Dutch landscape, its trees and its mills.
Around 1908 Mondrian began to use bright, non-natural colour. He was won over by the luminism of Jan Toorop, and Van Gogh mattered to him too. Windmill shows where that path led him: the sky is not copied from nature but built from pure blue and pink.
You can already read a hint of the later work in it. The vertical body of the mill stands against the horizontal strokes below, and the sails connect the two. It was precisely the vertical and the horizontal that later became the only directions he allowed in his grids.
Why do Mondrian lovers value this painting?
Most people know Mondrian from the strict grids of black lines and pure fields of colour he painted from around 1920. Windmill shows the other side of the same painter: warm, free and full of light.
It is dated 1917, a time when in other works he was already breaking subjects down into short lines and planes.
Among the famous Mondrian paintings the grids get most of the attention, which is why a comparison is worth making: hang Windmill near a late work such as New York City from 1942, and you see the beginning and the end of one road. In both, the vertical stands against the horizontal; only the language has changed.
Where is the original, and how is it signed?
The original belongs to the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas, where its accession number is 1989.142. It is oil on canvas and measures 99.5 cm in height and 94.6 cm in width, so it is almost square, only slightly taller than it is wide.
At the lower right the painter signed it in capital letters: PIET MONDRIAAN. The signature shows the Dutch spelling of his surname; he was born in 1872 as Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan.
Mondrian lived in Paris, from 1938 in London and from 1940 in New York, where he died in 1944. His mill is now in Texas, far from the Dutch flatlands it grew out of.
Windmill or another Mondrian?
Windmill is a canvas painting for calm rooms: a living room with warm wood, a bedroom or a reading corner. Its almost square format hangs well in the middle of a wall, above a bed or a chest of drawers.
From the same early period of bright colour comes Devotion of 1908, the profile of a red-haired girl looking up towards a flower. If trees appeal to you more, look at Apple Tree, Pointillist Version, with its dark blue tree on a golden ground, or The Red Tree, which belongs to the same story of trees on the way to the grid.
For the full choice, from the early landscapes to the late grids, open the Piet Mondrian page, where every Mondrian reproduction we paint to order is listed.
How does our painter paint your Windmill?
This painting is not about crisp edges and flat planes but about the free, visible stroke. So our painter first sets out the composition with care: he transfers the outline of the mill, the angle of the sails and the position of the moon onto the canvas, so that the proportions match the original.
Then he paints in oil, layer by layer. First the sky, which has to glow in blue and pink, then the dark body of the mill and its sails, and last the loose horizontal strokes in the lower part. He leaves the strokes visible, because they give the painting its life.
The result is an oil painting reproduction with a real layer of paint that softly catches the light. It has a depth no print can reach, because every stroke has its own thickness and direction.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 35 x 35 or 43 x 47 cm for a small wall or a shelf, 60 x 60 and 70 x 70 cm above a chest of drawers or a bedside table, 90 x 90 and 109 x 120 cm above a sofa or a bed, 150 x 150 and 190 x 200 cm for a tall, empty wall.
There are 8 sizes (width x height): 35 x 35, 43 x 47, 60 x 60, 70 x 70, 90 x 90, 109 x 120, 150 x 150 and 190 x 200 cm. The original measures 94.6 x 99.5 cm; 90 x 90 cm is 4.6 cm narrower and 9.5 cm lower, while 109 x 120 cm is 14.4 cm wider and 20.5 cm taller.
The sizes 43 x 47, 109 x 120 and 190 x 200 cm are, like the original, slightly taller than wide, so the mill keeps its slender build. As a painting for the living room above a sofa, 109 x 120 cm works best; in a bedroom above the bed, 90 x 90 cm.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. If your wall calls for a different proportion, we paint the mill in the size you choose and adapt the composition with care. Tell us the width and height, and we will send you a price and a lead time.
Your mill can travel rolled, already stretched on a stretcher bar, or framed and ready to hang. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing, as it does for every painting we make. You pick the frame in our 3D app, which is for choosing frames only; viewing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
Early Mondrian suits a warm wooden frame or a dark, plain moulding that brings out the light sky.
When will my Windmill be ready?
We start work as soon as your order arrives, and within 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to ship. Before it leaves, you receive a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like anything different, we correct it.
Within Slovenia and to every other EU country it travels without customs, and our returns policy applies.
Windmill makes a lovely gift for anyone who loves Holland, landscapes or early modern painting. With a wall art voucher, the person who gets the windmill picks its size for themselves.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
At the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas, accession number 1989.142.
What is the yellow circle at top left?
A small yellow moon in the blue sky, which you notice when you look at the painting up close.
Is this a print on canvas?
No. It is a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, with visible brushstrokes like the original.
How large is the original?
It is 99.5 cm high and 94.6 cm wide. Our closest sizes are 90 x 90 and 109 x 120 cm.
Do you paint sizes outside this list?
Yes, we also paint to measure. Send us the width and height you want and we will reply with a price.
How long does it take?
Between 15 and 45 working days; we send you a photograph of the finished painting before it is packed.
Does it suit a bedroom?
Very well. The calm blue and pink of the sky and the almost square format look lovely above a bed.
Why does it look so different from his grids?
Because it belongs to his early period, with free brushwork and luminous colour; he painted the strict grids only from around 1920.
- Subject: a dark-brown Dutch windmill seen from below, with a blue sky, pink clouds and a small yellow moon.
- Original: 1917, oil on canvas, 99.5 x 94.6 cm (height x width), Dallas Museum of Art.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas, in 8 sizes from 35 x 35 to 190 x 200 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the signature PIET MONDRIAAN at lower right uses the Dutch spelling of his name.
