

These paintings are representational, and they illustrate the influence that various artistic movements had on Mondrian, including pointillism and the vivid colors of Fauvism. These pastoral images of his native country depict windmills, fields, and rivers, initially in the Dutch Impressionist manner of the Hague School and then in a variety of styles and techniques that attest to his search for a personal style. Most of his work from this period is naturalistic or Impressionistic, consisting largely of landscapes.

He began his career as a teacher in primary education, but he also practiced painting. Īfter a strict Protestant upbringing, in 1892, Mondrian entered the Academy for Fine Art in Amsterdam. His father was a qualified drawing teacher, and, with his uncle, Fritz Mondrian (a pupil of Willem Maris of the Hague School of artists), the younger Piet often painted and drew along the river Gein. Mondrian was introduced to art from an early age. The family moved to Winterswijk when his father, Pieter Cornelius Mondrian, was appointed head teacher at a local primary school. He was descended from Christian Dirkzoon Monderyan who lived in The Hague as early as 1670. Mondrian was born in Amersfoort, province of Utrecht in the Netherlands, the second of his parents' children. Piet Mondrian lived in this house, now the Villa Mondriaan, in Winterswijk, from 1880 to 1892. I don't like the word 'iconic', so let's say that he's become totemic – a totem for everything Modernism set out to be." His name and his work sum up the High Modernist ideal. Design historian Stephen Bayley said: "Mondrian has come to mean Modernism. Color Field painting, Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism), but also fields outside the domain of painting, such as design, architecture and fashion. Mondrian's work had an enormous influence on 20th century art, influencing not only the course of abstract painting and numerous major styles and art movements (e.g. He encountered experiments in Cubism and with the intent of integrating himself within the Parisian avant-garde removed an 'a' from the Dutch spelling of his name (Mondriaan). Mondrian's arrival in Paris from the Netherlands in 1911 marked the beginning of a period of profound change. To express this, Mondrian eventually decided to limit his formal vocabulary to the three primary colors (red, blue and yellow), the three primary values (black, white and gray) and the two primary directions (horizontal and vertical). This was the new 'pure plastic art' which he believed was necessary in order to create 'universal beauty'. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neoplasticism. He was a contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which he co-founded with Theo van Doesburg. Art should be above reality, otherwise it would have no value for man." His art, however, always remained rooted in nature. We find ourselves in the presence of an abstract art. To approach the spiritual in art, one will make as little use as possible of reality, because reality is opposed to the spiritual. He proclaimed in 1914: "Art is higher than reality and has no direct relation to reality. Mondrian's art was highly utopian and was concerned with a search for universal values and aesthetics.

He is known for being one of the pioneers of 20th-century abstract art, as he changed his artistic direction from figurative painting to an increasingly abstract style, until he reached a point where his artistic vocabulary was reduced to simple geometric elements. Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan ( Dutch: ), after 1906 Piet Mondrian ( / p iː t ˈ m ɒ n d r i ɑː n/, also US: /- ˈ m ɔː n-/, Dutch: 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Evening Red Tree, Gray Tree, Composition with Red Blue and Yellow, Broadway Boogie Woogie, Victory Boogie Woogie
