The Tefaf shows newly discovered correspondence between Piet Mondrian and artist and collector Amalia de Schulthess-Loew. The latter regularly sent Mondrian flowers and fruit.
The RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History recently acquired fifteen unknown letters by Piet Mondrian at a New York auction. The letters were written in the period 1941-1943 and addressed to the Swiss-American artist and collector Amalia de Schulthess-Loew.
De Schulthess (1918-2021) and Mondrian (1872-1944) arrived in New York at about the same time, having fled Europe because of the impending war. They got in touch in June 1941 through a mutual friend. The letters show mutual involvement. She regularly sends Mondriaan flowers and fruit and he congratulates her on her marriage in August 1941.
Mondrian’s first solo exhibition
Mondrian’s first (and only) solo exhibition in 1942 is also discussed. He sends her, among other things, the invitation card and the brochure published for this exhibition, titled Toward the True Vision of Reality . In this text, Mondrian looks back on his artistic development. The RKD is very pleased to be able to include a copy of this rare brochure in its collection.
The letters also contain new information about the latest changes in Mondrian’s style. After years of working in his classic visual language of black lines and colored rectangles, Mondrian began to combine color and line for the first time after his emigration. He wrote about this to De Schulthess in June 1943: ‘I have changed a little my way of painting and this effort has taken me entirely. But I found a way which pleases me better: I have broken my lines so that they appear as little color-squares and broken also the white planes. In this way the picture becomes more dynamic.’
In the end, this new dynamic would only be realized in two works. One of these was his last painting Victory Boogie Woogie, which was left unfinished on the easel in his studio when Mondrian died on 1 February 1944.
‘He gave me many good ideas’
In latere jaren schreef Amalia de Schulthess over haar contact met Mondriaan: ‘he lived and worked in New York at the time. I visited him several times and we corresponded via letters. He encouraged me to paint and gave me many good ideas as to exercises in painting that could prove helpful to my technique.’
Mondrian’s willingness to help the young artist on her way is characteristic, he was involved with the new generation of artists. De Schulthess still had a long career ahead of her in the 1940s, she worked as an artist until old age and died in 2021.
Mondrian’s fifteen letters come from her immediate estate. Mondrian’s letters to De Schulthess are a new source in the research into the artist and are photographed and made public at the RKD. They will also be included in the Mondriaan Edition Project, the digital, scholarly edition of all of Piet Mondrian’s letters and theoretical writings.
RKD booth at Tefaf
A selection of the letters, the rare brochure and the special invitation card can be viewed at the Tefaf, where the RKD can be found in stand 814. The Tefaf in Maastricht will run until 19 March 2023. www.tefaf.com
