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
Thin dark branches rise through a pale field of grey, blue and yellow. The trunk remains visible, yet the tree seems close to dissolving into a pattern of intersecting marks. Mondrian's The Tree A is RKD B30, dated 1913 and held by Tate as T02211. Tate identifies it as oil on canvas, 100.3 × 67.3 cm, and explains that Mondrian reworked the subject from earlier realistic sketches in a more Cubist fashion.[1][2]
At a glance
Mondrian across periods
Contents
- Where is the tree?
- Why is it calledThe Tree A?
- How did Mondrian arrive at this form?
- From study to painted structure
- Its place among the 1913 trees
- Why the letter and number matter
Where is the tree?
Begin near the lower middle of the canvas. A cluster of vertical dark lines suggests a trunk. These marks divide and rise, becoming branches toward the top. Around them are narrow patches of cream, grey and blue. Some shapes seem to be gaps between branches; others behave more like independent pieces of colour. The viewer can still find a tree, but cannot trace every limb as a continuous natural form.
The tall rectangle supports this upward movement. At 100.3 cm high, the painting has room for a trunk that stretches and branches. The comparatively narrow 67.3 cm width keeps the limbs pressed together. The resulting density is important: the structure begins to feel like a web across the whole surface, rather than a single object set against an empty background.[2]
The pale background is not blank. Small changes from cool grey to warmer yellow help the dark marks shift in and out of focus. This can be read as light filtering through the branches, while also making the forms less certain. Mondrian's painting draws attention to the act of constructing a tree from lines and planes.
Why is it called The Tree A?
RKD catalogues the work as B30, The tree A, in its Paris 1912–14 group. The letter helps identify this exact canvas among a long sequence of trees and tree-based compositions. It is not a botanical species label. Tate's collection number T02211 provides a second secure identifier.[1][2]
The neighbouring catalogue entries show that Mondrian made related drawings and paintings, including Flowering Apple Tree and Composition Trees works. The viewer should not assume that every pale, branching image is Tree A. Its tall format, specific arrangement and Tate number distinguish it.
How did Mondrian arrive at this form?
Tate says the picture was based on realistic sketches made before Mondrian moved to Paris and was later reworked in a more Cubist manner. This is a useful, specific account of the work's relation to observation. Mondrian did not begin with a wholly invented lattice. He drew on a tree motif and then made the forms increasingly angular and compressed.[2]
The result stands between a visible natural subject and a composition that can be read as line and colour in its own right. One need not treat it as a simple step toward the later black grids. Its branches still have a rhythm of growth and irregularity that those paintings use differently. The changing clarity of trunk, limb and light is the painting's own achievement.
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Watch on YouTubeFrom study to painted structure
Tate's account of realistic sketches gives the picture a history of looking before the Cubist reworking. A viewer need not find the exact sketch behind every segment to understand the method. The trunk supplies an upward pull, but its branches are divided into shorter marks and the spaces between them become coloured shapes in their own right. At some points the dark strokes join into a tree; elsewhere they seem to belong to a surface-wide pattern. The picture holds both readings open.[2]
The narrow height is important here. Branches that might spread freely in a wide landscape are compressed into a column. Pale blue and yellow do not merely fill a blank sky behind it; they interrupt the dark web and affect which segments appear connected. This makes looking an active process: one viewer may trace a trunk, another may first see interlocking planes. Both responses begin with features the painting actually offers.
Its place among the 1913 trees
RKD's B30 number and Tate's T02211 identify a specific object in a crowded sequence of tree studies and compositions. The nearby 1913 Guggenheim Composition no. VII is also associated with a tree, but its nearly square format and dense central scaffold produce a different effect. The Tree A is taller and retains a more immediately traceable upward growth. Comparing them shows that “abstract tree” is not a single formula Mondrian applied repeatedly. He tested how much of a natural structure could remain legible under different arrangements of line and colour.[1]
Why the letter and number matter
“A” in the title can look like a version marker, but its safest role for this page is identification. RKD B30 and Tate T02211 together secure the canvas being discussed. Nearby tree studies may share pale palettes and branch-like marks while differing in support, proportions and the point at which the motif becomes hard to recognise. Comparing catalogue records first keeps a visual comparison from turning into an accidental claim that two reproductions are the same object.[1][2]
Mondrian artworks directory
Frequently asked questions
Where is The Tree A ?
In Tate, accession T02211.[2]
What is its RKD number?
B30, dated 1913.[1]
Is the tree still recognisable?
Yes. The trunk and branching direction remain visible, although the limbs merge into a dense Cubist pattern of lines and pale planes.[2]
Discussion
Which lines still suggest a tree?
Reader Insights
How do branches and background exchange roles?
How does this differ from the earlier Grey Tree?
How does this differ from the earlier Grey Tree?
Join the Conversation
Share what you notice in this painting below.
References
- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, Paris 1912–14 catalogue, B30 The Tree A, Tate T02211. View source.
- Tate, The Tree A official print record, original oil canvas dimensions and explanation of its reworking from realistic sketches. View source.
- Lead image credit. Piet Mondrian, The Tree A, 1913, oil on canvas, 100.3 × 67.3 cm, Tate T02211, RKD B30.
 The Red Tree Piet Mondrian.jpg)
