Church Façade

Description

The title, date and author of this drawing are all open to question. In 1969, the scholar Robert P. Welsh suggested that this sheet was linked to a series of compositions Mondrian made around 1914, based on the facade of a church in the town of Domburg, the Netherlands. This drawing has appeared in an exhibition at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1971, and was previously in the collections of artists Yves Tanguy (1900-1955) and Leon Kelly (born 1901). Nevertheless, 20th-century art-including works by Modigliani and Matisse, for example-has been a popular target of forgers, and Mondrian's authorship of this drawing will continue to be the subject of disagreement.

Provenance

Yves Tanguy (died 1955), Connecticut [according to New York 1972 exh. cat.]. Leon Kelly (born 1901), New Jersey [according to New York 1972 exh. cat.]. Sold by Richard Feigen Gallery, Chicago, to the Art Institute, 1968.

Church Façade

Piet Mondrian

n.d.

Accession Number

28634

Medium

Charcoal, with erasing, on off-white laid paper

Dimensions

63.3 × 48.3 cm (24 15/16 × 19 1/16 in.)

Classification

charcoal

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Grant J. Pick Fund