By: Jessie Sha
NEW YORK- At the Museum of Modern Art, the painting “New York City” by Piet Mondrian has been hanging upside down for 77 years. This famous painting isn’t even made up of paint, even though it is considered a painting. This piece of art is made up of layers of red, yellow, blue, and black tape. Although this painting by Piet Mondrian has been hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1941, only a few people ever seemed to question the orientation.
However, some people have suspected it to be upside down. The mistake was publicly recognized when a famous artist by the name of Francesco Visalli wrote to a leader of the museum. “Whenever I look at this work, I always have the distinct feeling that it needs to be rotated 180 degrees.” After the letter was received, the museum started researching, and many people came forward to talk about how they had suspected it to be upside down.
How did they find out that it was really upside down, and not just meant to be that way? It has to do with the way that Mondrian worked. According to the museum’s recent catalog.
"Assuming that Mondrian began by attaching the strips at the top, and, following the principle of gravity, unrolled them downward to attach them at the bottom of the canvas, then the painting has indeed been hanging upside down ever since it was first exhibited in 1945." That said, it is also possible that it isn’t upside down as Mondrian constantly turned the painting around while he was working on it. Many people even said that there might not be a right or wrong way to hang it, so for now, the museum won’t risk damaging it.