American MoMA Mondrian coasters water coasters simple tray decoration produced by the Museum of Contemporary Art

This set of coasters presents four works by Piet Mondrian from different periods, namely Composition with Red, Blue, Black, Yellow, and Gray (1921), Composition No. II, with Red and Blue (1929), Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow (1937 to 1942), and Trafalgar Square (1939 to 1943). In the 1920s, Mondrian began to create his widely disseminated minimalist abstract paintings. He limited his palette to white, black, gray, and primary colors, and his compositions consisted of thick black horizontal and vertical lines that outlined various colors or retained rectangular outlines. The simplification of the painting's elements was essential for Mondrian to create a new abstract art that was different from Cubism and Futurism. Blocks of various colors and lines of varying widths formed a rhythm that undulated across the surface of the canvas, echoing the changing rhythms of modern life.