piet mondrian Composition No. 4, 1938-42, with Red and Blue (in saint louis art museum) and jan de graaff
Conclusions 13 Twist
Jan
Introduction 3 Provenance 5 Random discovery 6 Jan de Graaff 9
The main source of reference is the Catalogue Raisonné by Robert Welsh and Joop Joosten published in 1998 - New York: H.N. Abrams and its digital version published by RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History) as part of the Mondrian Editon Project
fate 13 ANNEXS 14 Francesco Visalli
The cover image is a photomontage of Jan de Graaff’s portrait published in Austra lian Women’s Weekly (Jan. 19 - 1966) with the Mondrian’s painting
The house of Peggy and Jan de Graaff 10 de Graaff collector and Mondrian 11 of
Introduction This painting is one of the three large-format canvases that Mondrian made between 1936 and 1939, canvases that have very similar characteristics. In the specific case we can consi der an evolution of the other two, which are dominated by a composition of black lines on a white background, with a small red area on the lower side: (B269) Composition en blanc, noir et rouge, 1936 and (B292) Composition with Red, 1939. (1, 2) In the first version of (B285) Composition of red and white: nom I, a large red plane appears almost in the center of the compo sition, cut by a horizontal line. (3)
1
Mondrian began working on this painting in 1938 while he was in Paris, the fear of the imminent war conflict pushes him to move to London on 21 September 1938. Here he resumes his artistic path and completes the work in its first version.
4a Archives
Nouvelles 3 2 B292 3 B285
A few months later, in May 1939, the work was exhibited at the Guggenheim June gallery, a gallery that Peggy Guggenheim had opened in 1938 which was followed by the project to open a modern art museum in London together with Herbert Read as director. An idea then abandoned when Peggy returned to Paris in the 1940s. The catalog of this exhibition, with a preface by Kandinsky, was published in the London Bulletin no. 14 where the work (B292) Composition with Red, 1939 was reproduced even if not exhi bited. While Mondrian’s fame had crossed almost the whole of Euro pe and crossed the Atlantic, in Paris he was forced to fill out an embarrassing questionnaire (4a) to participate in the exhibition “Réalités nouvelles, L’art inobjectif depuis 1910” (a precursor of what since 1946 will be the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles). For this occasion he sends three works, including (B285) Composi tion of red and white: nom I, with a letter dated April 28, 1939 in which he also indicates the value: for B285, 15,000 French Francs. (4b) The exhibition will take place at the Galerie Charpentier from 30 June to 15 July 1939. (5) B269 Réalités
4b IMEC Archives (Institut mémoires de l’édition contemporaine) 5 RKD Archive of Theo and Nelly van Doesburg - (here the photo is processed in color) B285 B293 B284 4
Provenance
The war still requires a transfer: Mondrian leaves London and with the support of his friend Henry Holtzman, in October 1940 he lands in New York bringing with him many works including (B285)
Composition of red and white: nom I
After the exhibition at the Valentine Gallery, a void is created in the history of the painting, until 1951 when the work enters the collection of the Sidney Janis Gallery, which, the same year, will sell it to Mr. and Mrs. William A. M. Burden. In 1954 the work appears in a small photo published in Vogue magazine in the June 1 issue, in the article Modern Setting, the apartment of Mr. William A. M. Burden, President of the New York’s Museum of Modern Art. (Annex 1)
In 1941 Emery Muscetra made a small photo shoot in the Mon drian studio; in three photographs, at the bottom right, the painting still appears in his First State. (6, 7, 8) At the end of 1941, in preparation for the first personal exhibi tion in the USA at the Valentine Gallery, Mondrian intervenes on the painting by making some small but substantial changes: he reduces the thickness of some lines, extends one and adds another immediately above, and inserts a small blue area at the bottom right and three small red “tiles” free to move along the extreme edges of the canvas. A solution that gives the work an incredible charm and a vibrant rhythm. So completed, the work was exhibited by Dudensing between January and February 1942. Thus was born (B313) Composition No. 4, 1938-42, with Red and Blue. (9) Around the end of 1942, the painting in the First State is repro duced in an article by Felix Kraus entitled “Mondriaan, a Great Modern Dutch Painter”, in Knickerbocker Weekly magazine no. 30 of 21 September.
In 1957 Sidney Janis bought the painting again, and then sold it in 1958 to Arnold Maremont where it remained until 1972. Through the art dealer Eugene Victor Thaw, in the same year it will be acquired by the Saint Louis Art Museum (through funds donated by friends of the Museum), where its kept until today. The “void” regarding the Provenance from 1942 to 1951 re mains. 6 7 8 9 5 in Decision n5-6, Nov-Dec 1941, School of Paris comes to US by Sidney Janis in exhibition catalog 50 years of Mondrian, Sideny Janis Gallery 1953 in exhibition catalog MONDRIAN, Sideny Janis Gallery 1957
Random discovery Recently, when looking for material relating to some of Richard Neutra’s projects, various photos of the interiors of the house that Neutra designed in 1940 for Jan and Peggy de Graaff emer ged. Mondrian’s work appears in four of these photos. (10, 11, 12A, 12b) In the first two photos, presumably dated 1942 c., Mondrian’s painting is placed on the fireplace wall, while on the floor there is a carpet by Bart van der Leck that Jan de Graaff (most likely) will donate to MoMA together with a work by Mark Tobey, “Re mote Field”. The one on the coffee table appears to be a small sculpture by Georg Kolbe (probably), the work to the right of Mondrian’s painting must be identified (Picasso?). The third and fourth photos shows Mondrian’s painting on the end wall of the living room, in the area intended for the piano, near the passage to the dining area. Probably the de Graaffs must have understood that above the fireplace it was not the ideal position for the “whiteness” of the painting. These are certainly later photos, perhaps taken in 1943. (See the plan with the position of the shots)
Photos 10 and 11 in Avery Drawings & Archives Colections of Columbia University Libraries (Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jan De Graaff. Acces sion number - 1981.007) 12A in Oregon Historical Society Library - Van Evera Bailey archi tectural photographs collection. 12B found randomly on WEB (source under investigation) 10 1110 12B 6 12A
11 7
8 12 B 12 A 1 2 1 2 1 2 PIET MONDRIAN - B313 C. S. PRICE - THE DREAM
Jan de Graaff (13)
17- Peggy
Born in May 1903 in Leiden, by William H. and Francisca de Gra Theaff. de Graaff family dealt with garden bulbs through a com pany founded in 1723 by Cornelis de Graaff. Mainly Narcissus, Iris and Tulips were grown. As a boy Jan collected all kinds of lilies commercially available at the time, but he didn’t go directly into his parents’ business, starting diplomatic training instead. Still very young, at the age of 25, in 1928 he went to the United States and became a consultant for the Oregon Bulb Farm foun ded in the same year in Gresham near Portland, which at that time dealt exclusively with Narcissus and Iris. In 1934 Jan de Graaff acquired the company and began with the first attempts at breeding lilies in 1938. Lilies (similar to orchids) are famously beautiful flowers but very difficult to grow and un suitable for the mass market. After several attempts, in 1940 he was able to offer large quan tities of Lilies, this allowed him to acquire a fortunate economic wealth. In June 1947 he selected the Enchantment variety, whi ch was a great success and is considered the best-selling lily in the world. It also introduced the Stargazer variety and became a leading US producer of Narcissus and Tulip bulbs. However, the real success was that of having paved the way for the cultivation of the lily as a garden plant, a practice that until then was almost impossible. In the 1950s, Oregon Bulb Farm thrived to fill the entire farm with lilie (14, 15). In 1950 Jan de Graaff received the Thomas Roland Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and in 1962 he was awarded the American Home Achievement Medal for his outstanding work in horticulture. (16). Meanwhile, Jan’s wife, Peggy, volunteered to assist nurses at Red Cross military and civilian hospitals in Multnomah County. For her 2000 hours of volunteer service she was rewarded. (17) In 1968, de Graaff sold his company and retired to Manhattan. He will die on August 5, 1989 in New York from complications due to Parkinson’s disease. On December 24, 1998, at the age of 91, Peggy will also die. They had two children, Alfred and Joan. Graaff to the right - Photo in Horegon Historical Society Library de Graaff in the center
16 Jan de
13 19-1966Jan-WeeklyWomen’sAustralianThe OREGON BULB FARMS Photos in Daff Library American Daffodil Society 14 15 9
None of the published images feature Mondrian’s work
Bailey’s supervision was significant for the success of the work. Neutra’s project envisaged that the facades, in perfect moder nist style, were covered with stucco. Bailey made a change by adopting a cedar slat cladding that would hold up better in Port land’s humid climate and give it a more local flavor. Bailey ear ned national recognition as an “architect of the Northwest” and Henry-Russell Hitchcock, the architectural critic and historian who co-wrote The International Style with Philip Johnson, wro te: “The maturation of remarkable skills Bailey’s should make him a much better known and appreciated modern American architect than he has been until now. “
Bailey’s decisive contribution increased Jan de Graaff’s con fidence in him, to the point that subsequent projects were commissioned directly to him. In late 1939 or early 1940, Jan’s parents left Holland for Oregon to visit their son. The Nazi oc cupation of the Netherlands prevented their return, so they de cided to stop in Partland for good. In 1940, together with their son Jan, the couple William H. and Francisca de Graaff commis sioned Van Evera Bailey to design the new house in the Eastmo reland neighborhood.
In 1940 he commissioned the design of his new home to Ri chard Neutra, who made use of the collaboration of James Van Evera Bailey as supervising architect. (18, 19) Neutra was a Viennese architect, residing in Los Angeles, who was instrumental in bringing the modern movement to the Uni ted States. He is famous for his internationally styled Los An geles homes, such as the Lovell Health House (1929), which is now an icon of Californian modernism. After Bailey returned to Portland (1937) from Southern California, Neutra hired him as the local supervising architect for the Jan de Graaff home in Dunthorpe, an affluent Portland suburb (at 1900 Southwest Palatine Hill Road, now 1901 South Comus). (20, 21, 22)
Like most of the businessmen of the United States, Jan de Gra aff also entered the elite of owners of modernist houses desi gned by great architects and, of course, in art collecting.
Built in the same year (1940), the house was immediately re viewed by Russel Hitchcock in California Arts and Architecture magazine in the December 1940 issue, in an article accompa nied by seven photographs. In addition to two advertisements of companies operating in the construction sector, where two more photos are reproduced (Annex 2).
A third and rich review is published in the Architectural Record magazine of May 1943, in which, in addition to the cover, four pages are dedicated with a considerable sequence of photos (9), accompanied by drawings of the plants which, in this case, also present the interior furnishings (Annex 4).
18 Richard Neutra 19 James Van Evera Bailey 20 Original Project by Richard Neutra 21 22 10
The House of Peggy and Jan de Graaff
Another review of the house appears in the House & Garden magazine in February 1942, together with the publication of the drawings of the plants and three other photos (Annex 3).
As late as 1952, Bailey worked on the project for an expansion of Peggy and Jan de Graaff’s home in Sandy, a county in the west just outside Portland. Again in 1955 Bailey designed the de Graaff beach house at Three Rocks on the Pacific coast about 90 miles from Portland. Jan de Graaff’s house is still considered today a cornerstone of Portland architecture, however over the years and with some changes of ownership, it has undergone various “moderniza tion” interventions that have upset its compositional grammar. While remaining a beautiful and technological house, it has lost that characteristic of “uniqueness” that distinguished it from the others, canceling the international style of modernist archi tecture imprinted by Richard Neutra. In particular, the inclusion of the sloping roof is like wearing a “coppola” on a wedding dress (23, 24). A complete restoration carried out in 2003 when the house was sold to Andy and Laura Ford. It was recently put up for sale for $ 3,750,000. (see note for photo 24)
In order to obtain further confirmation, more in-depth research is underway at the Portland Art Museum. Unfortunately, at the moment, the archive is temporarily closed.The controversial issue of adding the pitched roof can be justified by Portland’s northern climate. Over the years, the flat roof could probably have created major maintenance problems, which have been radically remedied by sacrificing the architectural image.
The project, which was completed around 1942, was extraordi narily modern and adhered more to the international style than to local traditions. However, Elder de Graaff did not have the fi nancial means of his son, so Bailey had to strive to find cheaper building systems. The de Graaff SR house was published in Inte riors magazine in March 1945. In a letter sent to the magazine on January 6, 1945, Bailey described the elderly Dutch couple: “definitely left wing in all their thinking” - as requiring “simplici ty in appearance,” “quality in material things” and opposed to “any inclination to decorate or to design for the sake of design.”
23 - Photo by Jan de Graaff image in “A Century of Architecture in Oregon 1859
Among the artists in the de Graaff collection, the article does not mention Mondrian. However, he reports that the previous year (1949) many of the works in the collection were exhibited at the Portland Art Museum
Jan de Graaff collector and Mondrian
The research revealed that in December 1949 an exhibition en titled “A Portland Private Art Collection” took place. By consul ting the catalog, the last work is listed “29 - Composition - Piet Mondrian - Oil on canvas 40x40” (25 - Annex 6) The link with the photos found and the size of the painting con firm that it is (B313) Composition No. 4, 1938-42, with Red and Blue.
As a collector de Graaff has put together a fair number of works, such as to be counted among “The Bisnessman and Picasso” ar ticle published in Fortune magazine June 1950 (this is the only article tracked that talks about de Graaff as a collector - Annex 5). The author writes: “Jan de Graaff… was brought up in the Netherlands, surrounded not only by the flowers his family had raised for over two centuries but by works of art. lt was natural, then, that when he came to the U.S. he brought with him a love and knowledge of painting and sculpture. His collection, however, is not of Old Masters but mostly of semi-ab stract and abstract modern artists, and it is hung in his modern Neutra-designed hause in Portland”.
Indeed, given also his main occupation, one could imagine that he had more easily collected some of Mondrian’s flowers (who knows if Mondrian used some of the flowers from the de Graaff family’s company in Holland as a model for his works).
1959”, by Marion Dean Ross | 1959 24 - image from WEB 25 11 24 Note
The exhibition at PAM was a muscular performance for Jan de Graaff, in fact all the works (29) in the catalog come from his collection.
“The Private Art Collection listed within is the reflection of a thoughtful Portland couple’s comprehension of the meaning and importance of certain contemporary directions in art, and is their selection of artists’ works which give them pleasure end stimulation in their home. The works in the Collection range from the precise logic of Mondrian, through the expressioni stic symbolism of David Smith, to the quiet charm of the little head by Monticelli. Private collections are of inestimable value to a community; in supplementing public collections they give background and intimacy to art. Since public collections are the reflection of the more perceptive taste of the community, the private collections are symptomatic of tho directions and future of the public treasure.”
So writes Thomas Clyde Colt Jr. when he was director of the SomeMuseum.ofthe works in the catalog were then donated to the Mu seum, such as the work of Theo van Doesburg, “L’Arbre”, and those of George L. K. Morris, Alfred Maurer, Georg Kolbe (most Otherlikely). works, not shown in this exhibition, were also donated by de Graaff to PAM, such as those by Charles Heaney, Louis Bunce, Jacob Lawrence and Alexander Calder, all of which are in the Museum’s collection.
Regarding the works of Fernand Léger, the one indicated at No. 26, “Esquisse pour les Plangeurs”, is currently located at the Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma, but it seems that they are not aware of this provenance. At Archives of American Art, in Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, there is a photo of this work (even if upside down) where on the back is written: “De Graaff, 26”x33, Portland Oregon “ (A, B, C). It can therefore be assumed that at least until the date of the Portland exhibition (late 1949) this work was in the de Graaff collection.
A, B - Archives of American Art, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913 -1974 - Box 182, Folder 5: de Graaff, Jan, undated
The one indicated at No. 27, “Study for the Divers”, seems to have been purchased by Jan de Graaff at the end of 1944 from Curt Valentin through Jacques Seligmann & Co. (Archives of American Art, Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913 -1974 - Box 29, Folder 17, de Graaff Jan, 1944). From the first searches this work seems to have disappeared. However, it is not clear whether the work cited in the letter, “The Divers, on Yellow Background”, is the same listing in the catalog as “Study for the Divers”. Or if “The Divers, on Yellow Background”, is the same listing in the catalog as “Esquisse pour les Plangeurs”.
C - Esquisse pour les Plangeurs by Fernad Léger in the collection of the Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma 12 A more detailed analysis of the entire de Graaff collection, not just of the works in the catalog, is underway. In the de Graaff collection there were many other works, not mentioned in this text, found in other catalogs of other exhibi tions. From a first analysis it seems that de Graaff got rid of a large part of the collection during the 1950s, early 1960s.
Now a brief study is needed about the two photos found at Avery Drawings & Archives Colections of Columbia University Libraries
All the photos in the archive are dated 1940s or around 1941. Obviously, the two photos with Mondrian’s work (10 and 11), may have a dating from 1942 onwards, considering that at least until February 1942 the painting was at the Valentine Gallery.
Comparing also the other photos from the Columbia University Libraries archive, it appears that some shots were taken in the early stages of setting up the house, therefore between 1940 and 1941 (26, 27) This is even more evident when compared with the photos pu blished in the various magazines. It should be noted that some photos published in the magazi nes are not part of the series preserved in the Columbia Uni versity Libraries and Oregon Historical Society Library archives.
For example, on December 2, 1943 he bought a work by Stu rat Davis, “Hot Still-Scape for Six Colors” from the Downtown Gallery (Archives of American Art, Downtown Gallery Records, Series 4, Business Records: Sales Slips, 1943: Reel 5624, Box 71, Frame 566). The work is now kept at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Concluding therefore, it is possible to hypothesize that Jan de Graaff came into possession of Mondrian’s work immediately after the exhibition at the Valentine Gallery in 1942 and that he owned it at least until the early 1950s (exhibition catalog at the Portlan Art Museum) A few questions remain: Who sold the painting? Valendine Dudensing? From whom did Sidney Janis buy the painting in 1951? Twist of fate Jan de Graaff’s house is one of the projects that I studied exten sively in 1980 for a university exam at the Faculty of Architectu re. But I still wasn’t in love with Mondrian!
26 - The seated woman could be Francisca de Graaff, Jan’s mother
27
Conclusions
The work on the fireplace wall must be identified 13
28 - In this corner, photographed between 1941 and 1942, two works are visible. The one on the wall is a work by C. S. Price, Mule Deer, in the catalog of the exhibition at PAM listed at No. 13 and now kept at the Jordan Schnitzer Mu seum of Art. The one on the floor is most likely another Bart van der Leck carpet. In 1945 Jan de Graaff moved the carpet to the house of his father, William H. de Graaff (see photo in Interiors magazine, March 1945)
The two photos with Mondrian’s work (10 and 11), on the other hand, show a definitively furnished house, it can therefore be assumed that they are dated 1942. The third and fourth photos (12A and 12B), the two with the painting next to the piano, could be from 1943 c., when the house was now fully completed. In fact, it seems to adhere per fectly to the drawings of the plants published in May 1943 in the Architectural Record magazine. For example, another photo in the same series found in the Archive of the Oregon Historical Society Library, in which the same corner is represented, certainly shows an earlier phase, probably from the period 1941-42 (28) and subsequent to pho to Another27 fact to consider is that Jan de Graff went (or did busi ness) to New York with some frequency.
Francesco Visalli
ANNEX 1 14
ANNEX 2 15
ANNEX 3 Follow ANNEX 2 16
ANNEX 4 17
Follow ANNEX 4 18 ANNEX 5
ANNEX 6 19
