Mondriaan House

Piet Mondriaan was born in this house on the Kortegracht in 1872, where his father was headmaster of the Protestant primary school in the same building, and the museum uses it to trace the development that most people know only from its end point: he began painting Dutch landscape in the conventional manner, moved through luminism and symbolism, then in Paris met cubism and spent the following decade stripping away until only horizontal and vertical lines, black, white, grey and the three primary colours were left. The house shows that sequence with reproductions and some originals, the reconstructed Paris studio at Rue du Depart with its painted wall panels, and material on De Stijl. It is a small museum and works best as an explanation rather than a collection - the paintings themselves are in The Hague and New York.

What to look for

• The birth house - the school building where his father was headmaster.
• The development traced - Dutch landscape through cubism to the grids.
• A reconstructed Paris studio - the Rue du Depart room with its painted panels.
• De Stijl material - the movement and the argument behind the paintings.

When to go

All year. Two hours.

Before you go

There are few original Mondrians here - the major works are in The Hague and abroad, and much of the display is reproduction. It is a small house museum. Closed Mondays.

Nearby

The Koppelpoort and the wall houses are a short walk.

Key facts