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by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on September 28, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
About the painting
A pale chrysanthemum fills the upper half of Piet Mondrian's Chrysanthemum at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Its crowded petals curve around a dense center, while a thin stalk descends to broad, lobed leaves. The light green and yellow flower stands against a warm ochre ground. RKD catalogues this exact painting as C46 and calls it “dated 1906.” The museum's accession number is 1958.38.[1][2]
The 1906 inscription does not establish when Mondrian painted the canvas. Cleveland dates it 1906–42 and says the artist added the initials and date after painting the flower. He returned to chrysanthemums across his career, and the museum allows that this one could have been made as late as 1942. The familiar “1906” page title identifies the work's inscription and catalogue tradition; its execution date remains open. This is an oil on canvas, measuring 41.5 × 38.5 cm unframed.[1][2]
At a glance
- ArtistPiet Mondrian (Piet Mondriaan, 1872–1944)
- TitleChrysanthemum
- DateInscribed 1906; Cleveland Museum of Art dates the painting 1906–42
- MediumOil on canvas
- Dimensions41.5 × 38.5 cm, unframed
- CollectionCleveland Museum of Art, bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr., accession 1958.38
- Catalogue raisonnéC46[1][2]
Where the Cleveland flower fits among Mondrian's works
Contents
- What does the painting show?
- Why does the date range from 1906 to 1942?
- How is this different from the 1906–1907 Chrysanthemum?
- How did it enter the Cleveland Museum?
What does the painting show?
The single blossom is nearly as wide as the painting. Mondrian faces it toward the viewer, giving the round flower head a central place in the composition. Fine, curving outlines separate the many pale petals, so the mass remains intricate rather than dissolving into a single patch of color. Their folds create a busy inner rhythm. At the outer edge, stray petals break the circle and make the form feel grown rather than geometrically drawn.
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A slender stalk runs from the bloom toward the bottom edge. On either side, the leaves spread as broad, uneven shapes in blue-green tones. Their contours are jagged where the petals are curled. The distinction gives the viewer two kinds of detail to follow: a tightly packed flower above and a looser, open plant below. The lower leaves reach across most of the canvas, preventing the thin stalk from seeming isolated.
The ground is ochre, with visible vertical and horizontal marks. It does not describe a room or garden. Instead, its warm color makes the pale plant stand forward. The flower is neither placed in a vase nor set among other blooms. Mondrian reduces the scene to one plant and a colored field, inviting sustained attention to the shape of the petals, stem and leaves.
The Cleveland Museum describes the flower as frontal and compares it with the stylized chrysanthemums of Japanese prints. That is a useful visual comparison: the bloom presents itself almost like a patterned disk, yet the delicate variation of its petals keeps it alive. The museum does not name a specific Japanese print that Mondrian copied, so the relationship is best understood as a comparison of appearance rather than a documented source.[2]
Why does the date range from 1906 to 1942?
The lower edge carries Mondrian's initials and a 1906 date. RKD's online list therefore says “dated 1906” for C46. Cleveland's curatorial description makes a further distinction: Mondrian added the initials and date sometime after painting the flower. If the inscription was applied later, it cannot alone prove that the painting was executed in 1906.[1][2]
The museum dates the object 1906–42, a very broad range. It explains that Mondrian returned repeatedly to flower subjects, including during the later years when he was making abstract work. Cleveland notes that the picture may have been painted as late as 1942, the year he exhibited it in New York. “May have” is the key phrase: the museum does not assert that 1942 is the definite year of execution. Nor does its record prove that 1906 is impossible. Both ends of the range need to remain visible.[2]
This uncertainty affects how the work sits in Mondrian's career. If painted soon after 1906, it belongs near the early landscapes and plant studies. If painted much later, it shows Mondrian continuing to observe a natural form alongside his more familiar abstract painting. The image itself cannot choose between those chronologies. It does show the enduring appeal of a single flower's complex structure, a point emphasized by the museum's account.[2]
For that reason, a catalogue number is more reliable than a year alone when identifying this painting. C46 points to the Cleveland work with its pale bloom, ochre field and museum accession 1958.38. Other Mondrian pictures also bear the title Chrysanthemum, including the distinct work discussed on the site's 1906–1907 Chrysanthemum page. The two images should not be treated as alternate photographs of a single canvas.[1]
Watch: Piet Mondrian
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Watch on YouTubeHow is this different from the 1906–1907 Chrysanthemum?
The neighbouring painting is RKD C47, not C46. Its local image has a tall format. The blossom is darker and more blue-gray, its thin stalk is longer, and the leaves spread near the bottom against a deeper orange-brown background. The Cleveland canvas shown here is closer to square, with a larger pale blossom and leaves that rise higher. A side-by-side look at the two stems and the color of the petals makes their separate identities easy to see.[1]
RKD's list labels C47 c. 1906–1907 and gives a historical dealer line for that object. It labels C46 “dated 1906” and gives the Cleveland Museum of Art. Those catalogue lines distinguish the works even though their titles and approximate dates look similar. The museum's broader date assessment applies to C46; it must not automatically be transferred to C47.[1][2]
The comparison also shows two ways Mondrian could make a single flower fill a picture. In the Cleveland work, the dense head dominates and the plant below is relatively compressed. In C47, the space between blossom and lower leaves becomes more prominent. The two compositions invite different routes for the eye: around the crowded petals of C46, or down the extended stem of C47. These are observations about the images, not evidence for which painting came first.
How did it enter the Cleveland Museum?
The museum's provenance begins with Valentine Gallery in New York, which sold the painting to Leonard C. Hanna Jr. in 1947. Hanna held it until his death, and the museum received it through his 1958 bequest. Cleveland records the work under accession 1958.38. This ownership history is much firmer than the execution date: it establishes the painting's path into the public collection without resolving when Mondrian first made it.[3]
The Cleveland Museum's online object page currently marks Chrysanthemum “Not on view.” That describes its display status on the consulted page, not the permanence of its location within the building. A visitor should check the museum's current object record before planning to see the original. The museum has previously lent it to the traveling Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art exhibition, whose venues included Cleveland, Vancouver and several Asian and US museums in 2006–09.[2][3]
The painting rewards close looking in reproduction as well. The initials and date at the lower edge, the many small petal boundaries and the strokes in the ochre field are easy to miss at first glance. They make it a rich object for study even while its precise place in Mondrian's chronology remains contested. The best description keeps the object secure—C46, Cleveland, oil on canvas—and the dating question open.
Mondrian artworks directory
Frequently asked questions
Was this Chrysanthemum painted in 1906?
What are its material and size?
The Cleveland Museum records oil on canvas, 41.5 × 38.5 cm unframed.[2]
Which museum owns the painting?
Is this the same work as Chrysanthemum (1906–1907)?
No. This pale, nearly square Cleveland painting is RKD C46. The taller, darker flower on the other page is C47.[1]
Is the original currently on display?
The Cleveland Museum's consulted object page says “Not on view.” Check that record for a current display update.[2]
Discussion
Does the pale blossom or the ochre ground hold your eye first?
Reader Insights
Follow the thin stem toward the petals. Where does your eye stop?
Which leaf or petal becomes clearer after a second look?
How does the Cleveland C46 flower compare with the taller C47 Chrysanthemum?
Join the Conversation
Share what you notice in this painting below.
References
- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, Mondrian catalogue raisonné, chrysanthemum group C44–C93, including C46 and C47. View source.
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Chrysanthemum, accession 1958.38: date discussion, medium, size, description and display status. View source.
- Cleveland Museum of Art, printable collection record for Chrysanthemum, accession 1958.38: provenance and exhibition history. View source.
- Lead image credit. Piet Mondrian, Chrysanthemum, RKD C46, Cleveland Museum of Art 1958.38, oil on canvas. Inscribed 1906; the museum dates execution 1906–42.
