Apple Tree, Pointillist Version

Piet Mondrian

1908–1909

Oil on composition board

Dallas Museum of Art

This tree is composed of radiating branches of intense color and slashing lines. For Mondrian, the precise depiction ofa specific scene was unimportant; rather, the artist sought to convey the dynamic energy of nature through line and color. Mondrian had become interested in theosophy,a religion focused on humanity’s evolution towardspiritual unity. The color blue that dominates this painting and the triangular form of the tree may have been inspired by symbols considered universal by theosophists. Mondrian clung to the theosophical belief in evolution and viewed his own work as a constant progression toward pure spirit. This tree i