 Piet Mondrian.jpg)
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 29, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
About the painting
Before the rectilinear paintings that made him famous, Piet Mondrian painted this close, searching image of himself. The young artist faces forward, with dark hair, moustache and short beard. His pale shirt and greenish waistcoat stand against a deep brown background. This is the Self-Portrait of about 1900 in The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, object 1375 and catalogue A138. It is a different painting from the more angular 1918 self-portrait in The Hague.[1][2]
At a glance
Two painted self-portraits
Contents
- What does the portrait show?
- How do we know which self-portrait this is?
- Where does it fit in Mondrian's early work?
- How does it differ from the 1918 self-portrait?
What does the portrait show?
The face is unusually near. Mondrian gives little space to the room around him and offers no easel, brush or other sign of his profession. The warm light on forehead, nose and cheeks makes the features stand out from a brown ground. His shirt is pale and loosely indicated, while the darker waistcoat forms two vertical passages on either side. This contrast holds the head near the centre without a hard outline around it.
 The Red Tree Piet Mondrian.jpg)
The eyes are especially arresting. They appear to look towards the viewer, but the direction is not quite straightforward: the uneven light and the slight difference between the eyes keep the expression alert rather than fixed. Around them, the brow and bridge of the nose are more precisely worked than much of the clothing. The lower canvas shows broad strokes and passages that seem less finished. The effect is not a flaw to be smoothed out in a reproduction; the difference in handling makes the face the painting's clear focus.
Look also at the edges. The left shoulder seems to merge with the dark background, while the light shirt emerges abruptly near the bottom. The paint does not describe a detailed interior. These choices create a portrait about the sitter's presence and the act of looking, rather than about a particular room.
How do we know which self-portrait this is?
The Phillips Collection records its painting as an oil on canvas of about 1900, object 1375. The RKD Mondrian catalogue lists a Portrait of Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (1872–1944) at The Phillips Collection as A138. The sitter's full name and the museum ownership connect the two entries; the close frontal image on this page matches the museum's work.[1][2]
The dimensions can appear differently in older or secondary listings because of conversions and rounding. The collecting museum gives 20 × 15½ inches, equivalent in its record to 50.8 × 39.37 cm; it lists a larger framed measurement separately. Those are the useful numbers for identifying this particular canvas. The Phillips Collection says it acquired the work in 1958. That date is an acquisition record, not a date when Mondrian painted it.[1]
Mondrian made more than one image of himself. The site's 1918 self-portrait is a later oil painting in Kunstmuseum Den Haag, catalogue C23. A 1912 study for a self-portrait is listed on the reverse of another work in the RKD catalogue. Similar titles therefore do not imply that different images are versions of one object. Date, collection, catalogue number and visible arrangement are all needed.[2][3][4]
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Watch on YouTubeWhere does it fit in Mondrian's early work?
In about 1900 Mondrian was still making portraits, landscapes, flowers and other observed subjects. The surrounding RKD catalogue section records numerous figures from his Amsterdam years, including portraits of friends and acquaintances. The self-portrait belongs to that active figurative period. It should be seen as a serious painting from that period, rather than merely an early stage waiting for the geometric paintings to arrive.[2]
The work shows Mondrian examining a human face with the same attention he gave to other visible forms. Its palette is restricted compared with the bright colour of some later landscapes, but that does not mean the picture is already a hidden geometric design. The shirt, skin, hair and dark background remain specific materials and features. A reader interested in his development can compare this image with the later 1918 portrait and then with a fully abstract composition, while allowing each work to retain its own purpose.
The title Self-Portrait invites a question about self-presentation. Mondrian did not pose in elaborate costume or surround himself with studio equipment. The plain background and direct view put pressure on the relationship between painter and viewer. It is possible to read confidence or introspection in the expression, but those are responses to the image, not documented claims about what the artist felt while painting it.
How does it differ from the 1918 self-portrait?
The two canvases are separated by roughly eighteen years and by a major change in Mondrian's art. In the Phillips painting he is young, near frontal and set against darkness. In the Hague painting he turns in profile and looks back over a shoulder; behind him are pale rectangular divisions. The later portrait's background makes an especially vivid comparison with the abstract work he was making by then, although it still depicts a person and cannot be reduced to a geometric exercise.[1][3]
They also have different object histories. The Phillips Collection acquired A138 in 1958. The Hague museum records the 1918 work as a bequest from Salomon B. Slijper. The latter canvas is much larger, at 88 × 71 cm, against 50.8 × 39.37 cm for the Phillips painting. Reproductions can disguise this scale difference when shown at the same screen width.[1][3]
Mondrian artworks directory
Frequently asked questions
When did Mondrian paint this self-portrait?
Where is it now?
It belongs to The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, under object number 1375. The museum records its acquisition in 1958.[1]
Is this the 1918 painting?
Discussion
How does light draw attention to the face?
Reader Insights
Where does the clothing merge into the background?
How does this portrait differ from the 1918 Hague painting?
How does this portrait differ from the 1918 Hague painting?
Join the Conversation
Share what you notice in this painting below.
References
- The Phillips Collection, official Self-Portrait object record, c. 1900, 1375: medium, dimensions and acquisition. View source.
- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, Mondrian catalogue, Amsterdam figures A112–A145, listing Phillips self-portrait A138. View source.
- Kunstmuseum Den Haag, official object record for the separate 1918 Self-portrait, 0334324. View source.
- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, Mondrian catalogue, Paris 1912–14, listing a different 1912 self-portrait study on B12 verso. View source.
- Lead image credit. Piet Mondrian, Self-Portrait, c. 1900, oil on canvas, 50.8 × 39.37 cm, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, 1375, RKD A138.
