# Piet Mondrian artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/piet-mondrian/
Profile generated: 2026-05-02T22:24:16.634Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1872-03-07
- Death date: 1944-02-01
- Nationality: Dutch
- Movements: De Stijl (Neoplasticism), Cubism, Abstract art
- Common media: oil painting, watercolor, drawing, etching

## About Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) was a Dutch painter and art theoretician widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, he trained as a figurative painter before encountering Cubism at a 1911 exhibition in Amsterdam — a moment that redirected his practice toward radical abstraction. After moving to Paris, he co-founded the De Stijl movement with Theo van Doesburg, developing Neoplasticism: a visual language restricted to horizontal and vertical black lines intersecting planes of primary red, yellow, and blue against white grounds. Mondrian pursued this vocabulary for the rest of his life, refining it in London and finally New York, where works such as Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942–43) introduced rhythmic color strips inspired by the city grid and jazz. His paintings are held in major museum collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, Tate, and the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag.

## Common works and media

Mondrian's auction and appraisal record includes oil paintings on canvas — especially the mature grid compositions with black lines and primary-color planes — as well as earlier figurative landscapes depicting trees, windmills, dunes, and church facades. Works on paper in gouache, watercolor, and charcoal appear less frequently but are well represented. Etchings and illustrations from his early career also circulate. The artist's late New York-period paintings, which introduced colored strips without black borders, represent a distinct and highly sought-after category.

## Market and appraisal context

Piet Mondrian's auction market is exceptionally deep and wide, with 381 lots recorded in the Appraisily auction database spanning from May 1990 through January 2026, 225 of which carry realized prices. The price distribution is heavily skewed: the minimum recorded price is $30 (posters and offset lithographs), the 25th percentile sits at $200, the median is $6,500, the 75th percentile reaches $114,000, and the maximum is $50,565,000 for a major Neoplastic oil on canvas. This dispersion reflects the vast gulf between original oil paintings — especially mature grid compositions from the 1920s–1940s — and later reproductions, posters, prints, and ephemera. Two landmark sales anchor the top of the range: Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Ye realized $47,560,000 at Christie's in May 2025, and another Composition with Red and Blue oil on canvas realized $23,060,000 at Christie's in November 2025. Major auction houses include Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Aguttes, Lempertz, and Hampel Fine Art Auctions, confirming blue-chip institutional demand. Mid-tier and regional houses (Germann Auction House, Hessink's, DUMBO Auctions, The Rug Life Auctions, EJ'S Auction & Appraisal) handle prints, posters, portfolios, and ephemera at lower price points. Liquidity is strong: 19 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month period (down from 37 the prior year), indicating a still-active but selective market.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Piet Mondrian's auction market is exceptionally deep and wide, with 381 lots recorded in the Appraisily auction database spanning from May 1990 through January 2026, 225 of which carry realized prices. The price distribution is heavily skewed: the minimum recorded price is $30 (posters and offset lithographs), the 25th percentile sits at $200, the median is $6,500, the 75th percentile reaches $114,000, and the maximum is $50,565,000 for a major Neoplastic oil on canvas. This dispersion reflects the vast gulf between original oil paintings — especially mature grid compositions from the 1920s–1940s — and later reproductions, posters, prints, and ephemera. Two landmark sales anchor the top of the range: Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Ye realized $47,560,000 at Christie's in May 2025, and another Composition with Red and Blue oil on canvas realized $23,060,000 at Christie's in November 2025. Major auction houses include Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams, Aguttes, Lempertz, and Hampel Fine Art Auctions, confirming blue-chip institutional demand. Mid-tier and regional houses (Germann Auction House, Hessink's, DUMBO Auctions, The Rug Life Auctions, EJ'S Auction & Appraisal) handle prints, posters, portfolios, and ephemera at lower price points. Liquidity is strong: 19 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month period (down from 37 the prior year), indicating a still-active but selective market.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily uses Mondrian's auction-record database to establish a baseline price context, then refines an appraisal by examining the specific work's medium, dimensions, signature, condition, provenance, and catalogue raisonné status. For oil paintings on canvas, provenance and exhibition history are the most consequential value drivers — works with documented museum exhibition records or inclusion in the recognized catalogue raisonné command significant premiums. Condition is critical for Mondrian: his meticulously flat color planes make even minor retouching or craquelure readily visible under examination. For works on paper (gouache, watercolor, charcoal), medium, sheet size, and foxing or toning affect value. Prints and lithographs require edition numbering, plate identification, and distinction from later commercial reproductions. Comparable lots should be filtered by period (early figurative vs. Cubist vs. Neoplastic), medium, size, and date of sale. The 947-record auction history in the Appraisily/Invaluable database provides a robust comparable pool, though collectors should be aware that attribution disputes are not uncommon — works labeled 'after,' 'attributed to,' or 'zugeschrieben' appear in the record and trade at steep discounts to fully authenticated paintings.

### Valuation factors

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### Collector notes

- Mondrian's market operates on two tiers that a collector should understand before buying or selling. The blue-chip tier — original Neoplastic oil paintings — trades in the tens of millions at Christie's and Sotheby's and is supported by deep institutional demand and museum validation. If you own or are considering an original oil painting, a formal appraisal is essential: the spread between a fully authenticated work and one with attribution uncertainty can exceed an order of magnitude (compare the $47.6M Christie's sale to the €30,000 'zugeschrieben' Hampel lot). The secondary tier — prints, lithographs, posters, portfolios, and ephemera — is far more accessible, with prices typically in the low hundreds to low thousands. Be cautious: many auction lots titled 'PIET MONDRIAN' are later reproductions, not original prints. Check edition numbers, plate details, and publisher marks. Recent auction volume declined from 37 lots in the prior 12-month window to 19 in the most recent 12 months, which may reflect market selectivity rather than waning interest. For any Mondrian work, request documentation of provenance, condition reports, and catalogue raisonné verification before committing.

### Market caveats

- The price distribution is extremely wide ($30 to $50,565,000). Median and percentile figures aggregate original paintings, prints, reproductions, and ephemera; they should not be applied to any individual work without filtering by medium, period, and authenticity.
- Many recent lots are lithographic reproductions or posters sold at regional auction houses, not original compositions. Lot titles alone may not distinguish originals from reproductions — always verify medium and edition details.
- Attribution uncertainty appears in the record ('zugeschrieben,' 'after') and materially affects value. A qualified specialist should authenticate any work before relying on it for valuation.
- The Appraisily auction-record index draws from public auction feeds and may not capture private sales, dealer transactions, or all international auction results.
- Recent 12-month lot count (19) is approximately half the prior 12-month count (37), which could indicate reduced supply, market selectivity, or reporting lag — not necessarily declining demand.
- No specific price prediction or appraisal value is provided here; these records establish market context only.

### Market evidence sources

- Appraisily auction record index: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/piet-mondrian/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- Invaluable / The Rug Life Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1872-1944-lithograph-titled-victory-boogie-woogie-18in-x-22in-46cm-x-56cm-424-c-39e3d10cca
- Invaluable / The Rug Life Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1872-1944-lithograph-titled-victory-boogie-woogie-18in-x-22in-46cm-x-56cm-424-c-be7470cd64
- Invaluable / The Rug Life Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1872-1944-lithograph-titled-tableau-i-16in-x-22in-41cm-x-56cm-417-c-931edf19a6
- Invaluable / The Rug Life Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1872-1944-lithograph-titled-windmill-in-the-sun-17-5in-x-21-5in-44cm-x-54cm-416-c-809eaad5d1
- Invaluable / The Rug Life Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1872-1944-lithograph-titled-tableau-i-16in-x-22in-41cm-x-56cm-417-c-6c56add826
- Invaluable / The Rug Life Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1872-1944-lithograph-titled-windmill-in-the-sun-17-5in-x-21-5in-44cm-x-54cm-416-c-0e4c5202ec
- Invaluable / The Rug Life Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1872-1944-lithograph-titled-composition-with-red-and-blue-18in-x-21-5in-46cm-x-55cm-323-c-54ab9adac8
- Invaluable / The Rug Life Auctions: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1872-1944-lithograph-titled-composition-with-red-yellow-blue-19in-x-21in-48cm-x-53cm-162-c-75b3fed514
- Invaluable / The Written Word Autographs: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-piet-mondrian-1970-abstract-modernist-lithograph-print-composition-1916-408z-c-a9c44328fe

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines verified identity data from library authority files and museum collections with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when available. Sources include the Library of Congress Name Authority File, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Museum of Modern Art, Tate, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79135254
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/4057
- RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/56854
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/piet-mondrian-1651
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q151803
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/54151650/