Mondrian Masterpiece Restored and Unveiled at Peggy Guggenheim Collection

After over five decades of viewing through a compromised restoration, Piet Mondrian's 'Composition No. 1 with Gray and Red 1938 / Composition with Red 1939' has been returned to its original appearance at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. A five-year conservation project revealed that a 1968 New York restoration had altered key aspects of the painting, including the optical activity of black lines and the balance between matte and glossy surfaces. The removal of the 1968 frame and reconstruction of the original subframe, executed with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, restores the artist's intended continuity between canvas, wall, and space. The work, created between 1938 and 1940 on the eve of WWII, is now on view until October 19, 2026, as part of the exhibition 'Peggy Guggenheim in London: Birth of a Collector.' Diagnostic studies also involved over twenty paintings from Mondrian's London and American periods, revealing compositional changes and the artist's continuous reworking.