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Composition with Yellow, Red and BlueMatt Thomas / Monica Morales

Art History 209

Piet Mondrian

+Composition with Yellow, Red and

Blue(1927)

+About the Artist…

Dutch Artist

Born: 7 March, 1872

(Amersfoort, Amsterdam)

Died: 1 February, 1944 (Manhattan, New York)

Both his uncle and his father gave him instruction when, at age 14, he began to study drawing.

He wanted to become a painter, but his family insisted in obtaining a degree in education first.

Nearing the end of the century, Mondrian's paintings followed the trend of Dutch art: landscapes and still-life subjects chosen from around Amsterdam.

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Stammer Mill with Streaked Sky, 1905-1906

Evening at Weesperzijde Sun

+Influences

Mondrian encountered Cubism on a trip to Paris in 1912.

He began to abstract animals, trees, and landscapes, searching for their ‘essential form.’

Gray Tree (1912) Mill in Sunlight(1902)

+The Birth of De Stijl

After his return to the Netherlands, he met Theo Van Doesburg.

They started a magazine in 1917 named De Stijl (The Style)

It became a focal point for Dutch artists, architects and designers after World War I.

The movement emerged in response to the horrors of World War I and the wish to reconstruct society.

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It lasted from 1917 to 1931.

The De Stijl movement basically “embraces an abstract, pared-down aesthetic centered in basic visual elements such as geometric forms and primary colors.”

Mondrian and Van Doesburg desired to attain a higher, rational and universal beauty, rather than a sensual and superficial beauty.

They sought for the “universal, since the individual was losing its significance.”

The “ultimate form of art” Utopian vision of art

The De Stijl Movement

+De Stijl Art

+How has Mondrian’s work changed over the years?

+Composition with Yellow, Red

and Blue(1927)

+Formal Elements

Line

Composition

Color

Balance

Shape

Contrast

+Compare these two pieces:

Paul Cezanne , Mont Sainte-Victoire

Piet Mondrian, Composition with Yellow, Red and Blue

+Piet Mondrian vs.

Theo Van Doesburg

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"The emotion of beauty is always obscured by the appearance of the object. Therefore, the object must be eliminated from the picture."

- Piet Mondrian

+Fun Facts

1. When he moved to Manhattan, he developed a new technique using pieces of paper tape to create small rectangles of color.

2. He was a primary school teacher for some years.

3. He developed the style of neoplasticism in which he only used primary colors.

+Works Cited

Arnason, H. Harvard. ”History of modern art: Painting, sculpture, architecture.” New York: Harry H N. Abrams, 1977. Print.

The Art Story Contributors. “Piet Mondrian.” The Art Story Foundation. 2015. Web. 24 April 2015.

Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History, Volume II. 4th ed. Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print. 24 April 2015.

Wolf, Justin. “De Stijl Movement.” The Art Story. The Art Story Foundation. 2015. Web. 24 April 2015.

“Piet Mondrian and His Paintings.” Piet Mondrian- Biography, Paintings and Quotes. 2011. Web. 24 April 2015.

“Piet Mondrian”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 23 April 2015.

“A Very Brief Introduction to the Utopian Vision of Piet Mondrian and De Stijl”. Radford. 2014. Web. 24 April 2015.

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael W. Cothren. Art History. 5th ed. Vol. 2. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2014. 793-97. Print.

“Piet Mondrian.” WikiArt- Visual Art Encyclopedia. WikiArt.org. 2015. Web. 24 April 2015.