Piet Mondrian, one of the founders of the Dutch modern movement De Stijl, is mostly known for his pure abstractions from the 1920s, reduced to lines and rectangles and basics colors. You know what I mean:

Piet Mondrian, Piet Mondrian, Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Grey and, 1921, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

But before Mondrian came to this he was trying to find his way. He tried various styles of painting. A turning point in his career was in 1911 when his arrived to Paris from the Netherlands. He started to experiment with Cubism and integrate himself within the Parisian avant-garde removed an ‘a’ from the Dutch spelling of his name (Mondriaan). That led him to his abstract ideas.

Cubism sounds ok when you think about DeStijl and Neoplasticism but Symbolism? Postimpressionism? Here you will find five paintings of early Mondrian that may be quite a surprise for you!

1. Symbolism

Piet Mondrian, Devotion, 1908 , Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

2. Fauvism

Piet Mondrian, Windmill in Sunlight, 1908, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

3. Postimpressionism

Piet Mondrian, Evening; Red Tree, 1908–10, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

4 .Cubism

Piet Mondrian, The Gray Tree, 1912, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

Piet Mondrian, Still Life with Ginger Jar I, 1911/12, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag