Josef Ongenae started in the 1930s as an apprentice draftsman at an advertising agency. During World War II, influenced by Wassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, and Juan Gris, he developed an almost abstract style.
From the mid-1950s, he made geometric compositions with shapes like triangles and squares, related to the work of Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich.
This painting, Vertical, was painted by Josef Ongenae in 1958. His work from 1958 is considered a high point and can be found, among other places, in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the Mondriaanhuis in Amersfoort.