“In order to survive, Mondrian had been a painter of flowers on porcelain for practically his whole life. Perhaps this explains his hatred of nature. … [Mondrian] suppressed curves and all greens because they reminded him of trees, which he loathed. … In 1924 the artist broke away from Theo van Doesburg, who … maintained that the slanted line at a 45-degree incline better corresponded to the dynamism of modern man.” (Art of Our Century, ed Jean-Louis Ferrier, page 429.)