Willow grove, trunks leaning left II

Willow Grove, Trunks Leaning Left II (1902), at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, belongs to the series of willow grove compositions in which Mondrian was analyzing the visual structure of the characteristic Dutch polder landscape. The specific description of trunk direction—leaning left—indicates a precise observation of the way willows along waterways often grow at angles, bent by prevailing wind or the pull of the bank. The II designation again signals iterative working of the same motif. By 1902, Mondrian was deepening his engagement with the formal properties of the willow landscape, moving toward the progressive abstraction that would characterize his 1905-1908 willow compositions.

The lean of the trunks creates diagonal tension in the composition—the trees departing from the vertical to lean toward one side of the canvas. Mondrian exploits this directional energy to animate the composition, the leaning forms contrasting with the horizontal water and landscape elements below.