Piet Mondrian

• Name: Piet Mondrian
• Date of birth: March 7, 1872
• Place of birth: Amersfoort, Netherlands
• Date of death: February 1, 1944
• Place of death: New York City, USA
• Nationality: Dutch
• Art style: Abstract Art, Neoplasticism
• Known works: “Composition with red, blue and yellow”, “Victory Boogie Woogie”
• Techniques: Painting
• Influences: Cubism, Theosophy, De Stijl
• Exhibitions: Numerous exhibitions, including at the MoMA and Stedelijk Museum
• Special features: Mondrian's geometric compositions had a lasting influence on modern abstract art

Biography

Early career and transition to abstraction

In the 1900s, Mondrian began to engage with the various modern art movements that were shaping Europe at the time. Under the influence of Post-Impressionism, particularly Vincent van Gogh, and Fauvism, Mondrian developed a stronger fascination with color and structure. His palette became lighter and his brushwork freer and more expressive.

Around 1908, Mondrian's work underwent a further decisive development when he turned to Symbolism and Theosophy. He became a member of the Theosophical Society, which emphasized the spiritual quest for a higher consciousness and universal harmony. This spiritual quest became a leitmotif in Mondrian's artistic work and gradually led him to abstraction. He began to see his works not just as depictions of the visible world, but as expressions of a deeper, cosmic balance.

In 1911, Mondrian moved to Paris, where he studied the works of the Cubists, in particular Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. This encounter with Cubism marked the beginning of his radical turn towards geometric abstraction. In works such as Mühle am Gein (1912) and Blumenstillleben (1913), he increasingly reduced the forms and broke up the compositions into geometric structures. The influence of Cubism and his own theosophical convictions led Mondrian to completely abandon figurative realism.

Development of De Stijl and Neoplastic painting

In 1917, Mondrian returned to the Netherlands and joined a group of artists and architects who founded the De Stijl movement. De Stijl, led by Theo van Doesburg, pursued the goal of creating a universal artistic language based on pure forms and colors and uniting all the arts - from painting to architecture and design. Mondrian became one of the leading figures in this movement.

During this time, Mondrian developed his own artistic theory, which he called Neoplasticism. From then on, his painting focused on reduction to the essentials: Straight lines, right angles and the primary colors red, yellow and blue, combined with black, white and grey. Mondrian's best-known works from this phase, such as Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow (1930), consist of a harmonious arrangement of colored rectangles and lines that radiate perfect balance and clarity.

Mondrian's aim is to create art that takes the viewer beyond the material world and brings them into contact with a higher, spiritual truth. He believed that through reduction to geometric forms and pure colors, a universal harmony could be achieved that reflected the essence of the world and the human spirit. His works from the 1920s and 1930s are among the most significant contributions to abstract art and had a lasting influence on the development of geometric abstraction and minimalism.

Conflicts with De Stijl and move to Paris

Despite his central role in the De Stijl movement, tensions arose between Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg in the late 1920s. The rift arose when van Doesburg began to introduce diagonal lines into his compositions, while Mondrian strictly adhered to horizontal and vertical lines, which for him symbolized universal order. In 1929, Mondrian finally separated from De Stijl and concentrated on his own development of Neoplasticism.

Mondrian returned to Paris in 1929, where he further refined his reductive, geometric pictorial language. In the following years, he painted some of his most famous works, including his grid paintings, which embody the essence of his artistic vision. These works consist of a network of black lines defining rectangular fields filled in primary colors. Through this simple but powerful formal language, Mondrian creates works that are both strictly rational and spiritual.

World War II and emigration to the USA

With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Mondrian initially fled to London. In 1940, he emigrated to the USA to escape the war. He found a new artistic home in New York and became part of the up-and-coming American art scene. 

The dynamic energy of the city inspired him and his works became freer and more rhythmic, although he remained true to his strict, geometric visual language. His last creative phase in New York produced some of the most important works of his career. The painting “Broadway Boogie Woogie” (1942-1943) in particular is a high point in his development. In this work, Mondrian dissolves the strict black lines of his earlier works and replaces them with pulsating fields of color that reflect the vibrant and rhythmic energy of New York.  This work demonstrates Mondrian's ability to combine his formal rigor with the dynamism and rhythm of modern life.

Death and legacy

Piet Mondrian died in New York City on February 1, 1944. His work leaves a deep and lasting influence on modern art.  Mondrian is considered one of the most important pioneers of abstract art and a key figure in geometric abstraction. His reduction to the essential and his vision of universal harmony in art influenced subsequent generations of artists, designers and architects. Mondrian's theory of Neoplasticism and his strictly geometric compositions inspired movements such as Constructivism, Minimalism and Concrete Art. Today, his works can be found in the world's most important museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, which houses the largest collection of his work. Mondrian's revolutionary vision of art as an expression of a universal, spiritual order remains a cornerstone of modern art history and continues to shape thinking about art, architecture and design.

Exhibitions

• 03.12.2022 – 12.03.2023 Mondrian and De Stijl – Fondation Beyeler, Basel.
• 20.03.2014 – 01.06.2014 Mondrian and Colour – Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK. 
• 01.06.2011 – 09.09.2011 Mondrian: The Transatlantic Paintings – National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Awards

• 1906 Willink van Collen Prize, Amsterdam.
• 1940 Honorary member of the American Abstract Artists, an important recognition for his promotion of abstract art in the USA.

Films

• Mondrian: Pioneer of Modern Art, Documentary, Michael Blackwood, 58 Min, USA 1980. 
• Victory Boogie Woogie: Mondrians Unfinished Masterpiece, Documentary, Hans Pool, 54 Min, Netherlands 2017. 

Literature

• Mondrian and photography. Picturing the artist and his work, Wietse Coppes, Leo Jansen, Berlin 2023.
• Re-Inventing Piet. Mondrian und die Folgen, Andreas F. Beitin, René Zechlin, Cologne 2023.
• Piet Mondrian A-Z, Ulf Küster, Berlin 2022.

Collections

Netherlands

• Amsterdam – Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
• Otterlo – Kröller-Müller Museum

USA

• New York – Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
• Washington D.C. – National Gallery of Art

France

• Paris – Centre Pompidou

Germany

• Essen – Museum Folkwang

Weblinks

• Official Website by the Piet Mondrian Stiftung