Mondrian Diamond Paintings

Mondrian Diamond Compositions, by E A Carmean Jr, was published to coincide with an exhibition of the works at the National Gallery of Art, Washington in 1991. The book is an excellent read for any Mondrian enthusiast, as it not only decribes the diamonds in detail, but relates their development to Mondrian's work in general (he argues that many of Mondrian's stylistic innovations are first found in the diamonds) and also deals with his painting techniques.

On this page I intend, initially, just to show all the Diamonds: I may add further detail in due course.

In addition to the Seuphor, Ottolenghi and Blok reference numbers, I have included the Carmean references as Di#.

B97 Composition with Grid 3: Lozenge Composition, 1918 Oil on canvas, diagonal 121cm, sides 84.5x84.5 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, gift of A.P. van den Briel S438, O305, B266, Di1
B98 Composition with Grid 4: Lozenge Composition, 1918 Oil on canvas, diagonal 85cm, sides 60x60cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, from The Louise and Walter C. Arensberg Collection S445, O308, B-, Di2 This has become brown because of ageing effects on bare canvas.
B99 Composition with Grid 5: Lozenge Composition with Colours, 1919 Oil on canvas, diagonal 84.5cm, sides 60x60cm Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo S446, O309, B267, Di3
B100 Composition with Grid 6: Lozenge Composition with Colours, 1919 Oil on canvas, diagonal 68.5/69cm, sides 49x49cm Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo S447, O310, B268, Di4
B127 Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red and Grey, 1921 Oil on canvas, diagonal 84.5cm, sides 60.1x60.1cm The Art Institute, Chicago S465, O336, B-, Di5 Carmean provides an interesting extrapolation of B127 to a rectangular format. It will be worth reworking this in colour. That's now done: I might be inclined to tinker with the black lines at the top as the original implies something less regimented.
B151 Lozenge Composition, 1924 Once regarded as one of the two lost diamonds, Carmean identifies B151 as an early state of B156. The first image is the earliest state from Jarbuch der Jungen Kunst, 1924. The second, middle state, is from Elgar. S478, O358, B-, Di6bis
B152 Lozenge Composition with Red, Black, Blue and Yellow, 1925 Oil on canvas, diagonal 109cm, sides 77x77cm Private collection S481, O360, B-, Di7
B156 (and B151) Lozenge Composition, 1924 Tableau No.IV Losangique Pyramidal, 1925, with Red, Blue, Yellow and Black, 1924/25 (second state) Oil on canvas, diagonals 142.8 x 142.5 cm, sides 100.5x100.5cm National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., gift of Herbert and Nannette Rothschild S485, O359, B-, Di6
B165 Tableau No.I: Lozenge with Three Lines and Blue, Grey and Yellow, 1925 Oil on canvas, diagonal 112cm, sides 80x80cm Kunsthaus, Zürich, gift of the Vereinigung Zürcher Kunstfreunde S482, O357, B-, Di8
B169 Komposition I: Lozenge with Three Lines, 1926 Oil on canvas, diagonal 112cm, sides 80x80 cm Whereabouts unknown S-, O-, B-, Di9bis This is Carmean's second lost diamond, and he suggests that it an early state of B173.
B173 Schilderij No.1: Lozenge with Two Lines and Blue, 1926 Oil on canvas, diagonala 85cm, sides 60x60cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, from the A.E. Gallatin Collection S487, O365, B-, Di9
B176 Tableau No.1: Lozenge with Four Lines and Grey, 1926 Oil on canvas, diagonals 113.7x111.8cm, sides 80x80.4cm MoMA, New York, Katherine S. Dreier bequest S486, O364, B-, Di10
B211 Composition No.IV Fox-Trot A Lozenge with Three Lines, 1929 Oil on canvas, diagonal 110cm, sides 78.2x78.2 cm Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, gift of Katherine S. Dreier and Marcel Duchamp, Trustees of the Collection of the Société Anonyme S502, O393, B-, Di11
B218 Composition No.1: Lozenge with Four Lines, 1930 Oil on canvas, diagonal 107 cm, sides 75.2x75.2 cm Guggenheim Museum, New York, from the Estate of Hilla Rebay S523, O401, B-, Di12
B229 Lozenge, Composition with Two Lines, 1931 Oil on canvas, diagonal 112 cm, sides 80x80 cm Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam S526, O405, B282, Di13
B241 Lozenge Composition with Four Yellow Lines, 1933 Oil on canvas, diagonal 112.9 cm, sides 80.2x79.9 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, gift of the artist's admirers, represented by Charlie Toorop. S537, O410, B283, Di14 The photograph is of Mondrian in 1933 with B241 in his studio at rue du Départ, Paris. The picture below is the missing B242, probably burnt in transportation by car during World War II' (CR).
B282 Lozenge Composition with Eight Lines and Red Picture No. III, 1938 Oil on canvas, diagonal 140 cm, sides 100x100 cm Beyeler Collection, Basel S593, O465, B-, Di15 The photograph is of Mondrian, 1944, in his First Avenue, New York studio.
B324 Victory Boogie Woogie (unfinished), 1944 Oil and paper on canvas, diagonal, 178.4 cm (sides 126x126cm) Haags Gemeentemuseum, purchased for 80M guilders (€35M) in 1998 from Samuel Irving Newhouse. S592, O472, B- The second image is Charmion von Wiegan's sketch of B324 after the first day's work, 13th June, 1942. Image from the Centennial Exhibition catalogue.

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