Grazende kalfjes

Grazende kalfjes (Grazing Calves) from 1901, held at the Mondriaan House in Amersfoort, belongs to Mondrian's sustained engagement with animal subjects during his early career. Calves in particular—small, young, and ungainly—were subjects that tested a painter's ability to capture animal form while evoking the rural life of the Dutch countryside. Dutch painters had a long tradition of animal painting from Paulus Potter onward, and Mondrian's early animal subjects place him within this tradition while beginning to simplify form in ways that anticipate his mature analytical approach. The Mondriaan House preserves numerous works from this naturalistic phase.

Mondrian renders the calves with attention to their characteristic forms: the blocky body, the uncertain legs, the soft muzzle. The handling is direct for this period, establishing the animals against a field background with confident, economic brushwork that avoids excessive detail.