A painting by Piet Mondrian sold at auction in New York this week for a whopping 50,6 million dollars (49,4 million euros), setting a new record to become the most expensive work by the prolific Dutch artist. 

Mondrian's Composition No. II on sale in New York

The artwork, titled Composition No. II, was completed in 1930 when Mondrian was living and working in Paris. It features all the elements Mondrian’s work is famous for and is made up of various straight black lines on a white background with blocks of red, blue and yellow. 

While iconic and easily recognisable, Mondrian’s style has recently led to some confusion amongst members of the art world, when a curator in Düsseldorf realised one of his pieces had been hanging upside down for 70 years. 

Composition No. II sets new record for Mondrian art

Composition No. II went on sale at an auction in New York, and was purchased by an anonymous collector from Asia. With a winning bid of almost 50 million euros, the artwork has become the most expensive piece of Mondrian’s collection, with NOS reporting that it broke the record of 44 million euros held by Composition III with red, blue, yellow and black.