pieter mondriaan 1872
Name: Pieter Cornelius Mondrian
Born: 7 March 1872
Died: 1 February 1944
Home Town: Amersfoort, Netherlands
Style: Abstract Art
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Exhibited: Tate Modern
Why I like him: His use of straight lines and block colour inspired a clock that I made.
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History:
•Pioneer for abstract art
•“Art is higher than reality and has no direct relation to reality. To approach the spiritual in art, one will make as little use as possible of reality, because reality is opposed to the spiritual. We find ourselves in the presence of an abstract art. Art should be above reality, otherwise it would have no value for man."
•Contributed to the De Stijl (Dutch for The Style) movement which evolved to be Neoplasticism
•Three Primary Colours (Red, Blue, Yellow), Three primary values (black, white, grey), two primary directions (horizontal and vertical).
•1911 arrived in Paris and experimented with cubism. To integrate himself, he removed an ‘a’ from Mondriaan.
•His work influenced colour field painting, abstract expressionism, and minimalism.
•He also influenced design, architecture, and fashion
composition with red blue and yellow 1942
Probably one of the most recognisable paintings. Mondriaan carried cubism to the point of abstraction, which he liked to call Neo-Plasticism. He restricted his work to 3 primary colours and thick black horizontal and vertical lines.
trafalgar square 1943
This was the first of 3 paintings that he named after cities that offered him refuge during World War II. I was relieved to see that the picture was not trying to represent the place itself, as I was struggling with the concept!
view from the dunes with beach and piers 1909
In some of his earlier work, you can see the use of block colours emerging. I like the lines in this one as I can vaguely visualise a sparkling sea in the distance.
