By: Kai Wang
Linear lines in yellow, red, black, and blue over a blank white canvas symboling a skyline. This piece of art is named New York City I, created in 1941. It was made by Dutch painter, Piet Mondrian. He is famous for his abstract art. He is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. This piece was hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, but has been at the Dusseldorf museum 1980.
But how did it only been discovered it was upside down until now? It’s because art historian and Museum curator Susanne Meyer-Buser, “noticed that the painting looked different from a photo she saw decades earlier.” Susanne Meyer-Buser is a Curator at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Dusseldorf, Germany.(Town & Country)
“In a photo from 1944, I saw that the canvas was the other way around on an easel. It intrigued me,” Ms. Meyer-Buser told a German newspaper.
The way the piece was presented was that the linear lines widened at the bottom. This is interesting because another of the painter's similar works dubbed New York City lines were thickened at the top. (Kids News)
Although curators are now aware the piece is upside down, the work will continue to stay this way because it is too fragile to change. The adhesive tape of the piece is extremely loose. (Kids News)
Sources: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a41803027/piet-mondrian-upside-down-painting-new-york-city-i/
https://www.kidsnews.com.au/arts/abstract-painting-by-piet-mondrian-hung-upside-down-for-77-years/news-story/6cdd3081916775d2169de975f64e9b26