« New York City 1 », A 1941 painting by Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian had been hanging the wrong way for 77 years, officials at the Kunstsammlung museum in Dusseldorf have discovered, where it is currently on display for a major retrospective.
“In a photo from 1944, I saw that the canvas was the other way around on an easel. It intrigued me”said Saturday, October 29 in an interview with the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung Susanne Meyer-Büser, the curator of the exhibition.
The painting, made up of several red, yellow and blue strokes intersecting at right angles, was later exhibited at Moma in New York ” one year later “, in the wrong way, according to Ms. Meyer-Büser. When it was sent to the Dusseldorf museum in 1980, the painting was rearranged in the same way.
Inspired by New York skyscrapers
The error could come from the fact that “the painting had no signature”, according to Meyer-Büser. Its meaning was therefore determined by “the name of the artist written on the back of the frame by the administrator of the estate”when Mondrian died in 1944.
Despite all evidence that the artwork is currently on display upside down, the artwork will not be returned. “Adhesive tapes are already extremely loose and hanging by a thread”, said Ms. Meyer-Büser. ” If we were to flip it now, gravity would pull it in another direction. And (this mistake) is now part of the history of the work. »
Piet Mondrian, born in 1872, is one of the main figures of the Dutch artistic movement called ” The style “ (” The style “in French), known for its horizontal and vertical lines and primary colors.
In 1940, the painter left for the United States in New York. The rectilinear grids of his paintings are inspired by the layout and skyscrapers of the American city. He is world famous in particular for his canvas « Victory Boogie Woogie »considered one of the most important works of the 20the century.