By the Sea 1909

Piet Mondrian created By the Sea with oil on canvas, and it feels like a moment captured in thought. Look at the way he's handled the paint – it's like he's building up the image, layer by layer. The brushstrokes are visible, giving it a tactile quality, and a sense of movement like the ebb and flow of the tide. The palette is quite subdued, blues, yellows, and browns. Notice how the colors blend into each other, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere. I keep being drawn to the horizon line where the sea meets the sky. It’s not a sharp division; instead, it's blurred and indistinct, mirroring the way our perceptions shift and change. This feels like an earlier Mondrian when you think of the crisp geometry that followed. There's a connection there, to the Dutch landscapes of someone like Jacob van Ruisdael, but one that’s definitely heading towards something new. Art, like life, is a process of becoming, isn't it?