rietveld - mondrian

7/28/2019 Rietveld - Mondrian

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Rietveld

In the fourth posting on the theme of architect/designer I am looking at Gerrit Rietveld (24 June 188826 June 1964) who was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. One of the principal members of theDutch artistic movement called De Stijl, Rietveld is famous for his Red and Blue Chair and for the

Rietveld Schrder House, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rietveld designed his famous Red andBlue Chair in 1917. In 1918, he started his own furniture factory, and changed the chair's colors afterbecoming influenced by the 'De Stijl' movement, of which he became a member in 1919, the same yearin which he became an architect.

Red and Blue Chair (1917)

He designed his first building, the Rietveld Schrder House, in 1924, in close collaboration with theowner Truus Schrder-Schrder. Built in Utrecht on the Prins Hendriklaan 50, the house has aconventional ground floor, but is radical on the top floor, lacking fixed walls but instead relying onsliding walls to create and change living spaces. The design seems like a three-dimensional realization
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of a Mondrian painting.
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The Rietveld Schrder House.

Note how similar in style the above detail looks to his Berlin Chair (1923)

Rietveld broke with the 'De Stijl' in 1928 and became associated with a more functionalist style ofarchitecture known as either Nieuwe Zakelijkheid or Nieuwe Bouwen. The same year he joined theCongrs Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. He designed the "Zig-Zag" chair in 1934 and started thedesign of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which was finished after his death. He built hundreds of
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5bVN3kXOxFc/TChX4ueRQhI/AAAAAAAABPU/K3PBV4iPaSk/s1600/Rietveld_Berlin_Chair_1923.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5bVN3kXOxFc/TChXoQ_NQwI/AAAAAAAABPM/XxkTGiGWzeM/s1600/04.jpg


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homes, many of which are in the city of Utrecht.

Zig-Zag Chair (1934)

His work was neglected when rationalism came into vogue but he later benefited from a revival of thestyle of the 1920s thirty years later.
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Dining Chair (1919)
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Steel Chair (1927)
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Steltman Chair (1963)

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (Dutch pronunciation:[rt toms ritflt]; 24 June 188825 June 1964) was

aDutchfurnituredesignerandarchitect. One of the principal members of the Dutch artistic movement

calledDe Stijl, Rietveld is famous for hisRed and Blue Chairand for theRietveld Schrder House, which

is aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site.

Contents

[hide]

1 Biography

2 Recognition

3 Gallery

4 References

5 External links

Biography [edit]

Rietveld was born inUtrechtin 1888 as the son of a joiner. He left school at 11 to be apprenticed to his

father and enrolled at night school[1]

before working as a draughtsman for C. J. Begeer, a jeweller

inUtrecht, from 1906 to 1911.[2]

By the time he opened his own furniture workshop in 1917, Rietveld had

taught himself drawing, painting and model-making. He afterwards set up in business as a cabinet-

maker.[3]

Rietveld designed his famousRed and Blue Chairin 1917. Hoping that much of his furniture would

eventually be mass-produced rather than handcrafted, Rietveld aimed for simplicity in construction.[4]

In
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Dutch_and_Afrikaanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Dutch_and_Afrikaanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Dutch_and_Afrikaanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furniturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furniturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Blue_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Blue_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Blue_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schr%C3%B6der_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schr%C3%B6der_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schr%C3%B6der_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Biographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Biographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Recognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Recognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Galleryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Galleryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Rietveld&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Rietveld&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Rietveld&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrechthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrechthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrechthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrechthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrechthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrechthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Blue_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Blue_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Blue_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-4http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5bVN3kXOxFc/TChYmz-3i-I/AAAAAAAABPk/acroMymZuGQ/s1600/Rietveld_Steltman_Chair_1963.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Blue_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrechthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrechthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Rietveld&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Galleryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Recognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#Biographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schr%C3%B6der_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_and_Blue_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furniturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Dutch_and_Afrikaans


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1918, he started his own furniture factory, and changed the chair's colors after becoming influenced by

the 'De Stijl' movement, of which he became a member in 1919, the same year in which he became an

architect. The contacts that he made at De Stijl gave him the opportunity to exhibit abroad as well. In

1923,Walter Gropiusinvited Rietveld to exhibit at theBauhaus.[5]

He designed his first building,

theRietveld Schrder House, in 1924, in close collaboration with the ownerTruus Schrder-Schrder.

Built inUtrechton the Prins Hendriklaan 50, the house has a conventional ground floor, but is radical onthe top floor, lacking fixed walls but instead relying on sliding walls to create and change living spaces.

The design seems like a three-dimensional realization ofaMondrianpainting. The house has been

aUNESCOWorld Heritage Sitesince 2000. His involvement in the Schrder House exerted a strong

influence on Truus' daughter,Han Schrder, who became one of the first female architects in the

Netherlands.[6]

Rietveld broke with 'De Stijl' in 1928 and became associated with a more functionalist style of

architecture, known as eitherNieuwe ZakelijkheidorNieuwe Bouwen. The same year he joined

theCongrs Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. From the late 1920s he was concerned with social

housing, inexpensive production methods, new materials, prefabrication and standardisation. In 1927 he

was already experimenting with prefabricated concrete slabs, a very unusual material at that time. In the1920s and 1930s, however, all his commissions came from private individuals, and it was not until the

1950s that he was able to put his progressive ideas about social housing into practice, in projects in

Utrecht and Reeuwijk.[7]

Rietveld designed theZig-Zag Chairin 1934 and started the design of theVan Gogh

MuseuminAmsterdam, which was finished after his death.

In 1951 Rietveld designed a retrospective exhibition about De Stijl which was held in Amsterdam, Venice

and New York. Interest in his work revived as a result. In subsequent years he was given many

prestigious commissions, including the Dutch pavilion for theVenice Biennale(1953), the art academies

in Amsterdam and Arnhem, and the press room for theUNESCObuilding in Paris. Designed for the

display of small sculptures at the Third International Sculpture Exhibition in Arnhems Sonsbeek Park in1955, Rietveld's Sonsbeek Pavilion was rebuilt with new materials at the Krller-Mller Museumin

2010.[8]

In order to handle all these projects, in 1961 Rietveld set up a partnership with the architects

Johan Van Dillen and J. Van Tricht built hundreds of homes, many of them in the city of Utrecht.[9]

His work was neglected when rationalism came into vogue, but he later benefited from a revival of the

style of the 1920s thirty years later.[10]

Recognition [edit]

Rietveld had his first retrospective exhibition devoted to his architectural work at the Centraal Museum,

Utrecht, in 1958. When the art academy in Amsterdam became part of the higher professional education

system in 1968 and was given the status of an Academy for Fine Arts and Design, the name waschanged to the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in honour of Rietveld.

[11]"Gerrit Rietveld: A Centenary Exhibition"

at the Barry Friedman Gallery, New York, in 1988 was the first comprehensive presentation of the Dutch

architect's original works ever held in the U.S. The highlight of a celebratory Rietveld Year in Utrecht,

the exhibition Rietvelds Universe opened at the Centraal Museum and compared him and his work with

famous contemporaries like Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe.[12]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Gropiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Gropiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Gropiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schr%C3%B6der_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schr%C3%B6der_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schr%C3%B6der_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truus_Schr%C3%B6der-Schr%C3%A4derhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truus_Schr%C3%B6der-Schr%C3%A4derhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truus_Schr%C3%B6der-Schr%C3%A4derhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_(city)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_(city)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_(city)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Schr%C3%B6derhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Schr%C3%B6derhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Schr%C3%B6derhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Zakelijkheidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Zakelijkheidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Zakelijkheidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Bouwenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Bouwenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Bouwenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congr%C3%A8s_Internationaux_d%27Architecture_Modernehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congr%C3%A8s_Internationaux_d%27Architecture_Modernehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congr%C3%A8s_Internationaux_d%27Architecture_Modernehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zig-Zag_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zig-Zag_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zig-Zag_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennalehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennalehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennalehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%B6ller-M%C3%BCller_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%B6ller-M%C3%BCller_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%B6ller-M%C3%BCller_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Rietveld&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Rietveld&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Rietveld&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-11http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_Rietveld&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%B6ller-M%C3%BCller_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice_Biennalehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zig-Zag_Chairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congr%C3%A8s_Internationaux_d%27Architecture_Modernehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Bouwenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwe_Zakelijkheidhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Schr%C3%B6derhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Sitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCOhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht_(city)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truus_Schr%C3%B6der-Schr%C3%A4derhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rietveld_Schr%C3%B6der_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Gropiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijl


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Mondrian

n (Dutch pronunciation:[pit mndrian], later[mndrin]; March 7, 1872 February 1, 1944) was

aDutchpainter.

He was an important contributor to theDe Stijlart movement and group, which was founded byTheo van

Doesburg. He evolved anon-representationalform which he termedNeo-Plasticism. This consisted of

white ground, upon which was painted a grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and the three primary

colors.[1]

Between his 1905 painting, The River Amstel, and his 1907Amaryllis, Mondrian changed the spelling of

his signature from Mondriaan to Mondrian.[2]

Contents

[hide]

1 The Netherlands 18721912

2 Paris 19111914

3 The Netherlands 19141919

4 Paris 19191938

5 London and New York 19381944

6 Wall works

7 Death

8 References in culture

9 Partial list of works10 See also

11 Footnotes

12 References

13 Further reading

14 External links

The Netherlands 18721912 [edit]
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Mondrian's birthplace inAmersfoort, Netherlands, nowThe Mondriaan House, a museum

In this house, now the Villa Mondrian, inWinterswijk, Piet Mondrian lived from 1880 to 1892

Mondrian was born inAmersfoortin theNetherlands, the second of his parents' children.[3]

He was

descended from Christian Dirkzoon Monderyan who lived inThe Hagueas early as 1670.[2]

The familymoved toWinterswijkin the east of the country, when his father, Pieter Cornelius Mondriaan, was

appointed Head Teacher at a local primary school.[4]

Mondrian was introduced to art from a very early

age: his father was a qualified drawing teacher; and, with his uncle, Fritz Mondriaan (a pupil ofWillem

Marisof theHague Schoolof artists), the younger Piet often painted and drew along the river Gein.[5]

After a strictlyProtestantupbringing, in 1892, Mondrian entered the Academy for Fine Art

inAmsterdam.[6]

He already was qualified as a teacher.[4]

He began his career as a teacher inPrimary

Education, but he also practicedpainting. Most of his work from this period

isNaturalisticorImpressionistic, consisting largely oflandscapes. ThesePastoralimages of his native

country depictwindmills, fields, andrivers, initially in the Dutch Impressionist manner of theHague

Schooland then in a variety of styles and techniques documenting his search for a personal style. Thesepaintings are most definitelyRepresentational, illustrating the influence various artistic movements had on

Mondrian, includingPointillismand the vivid colors ofFauvism.

On display in theGemeentemuseumin theHagueare a number of paintings from this period, including

suchPost-Impressionistworks as The Red Milland Trees in Moonrise. Another painting, Evening(Avond)

(1908), a scene of haystacks in a field at dusk, even augurs future developments by using a palette

consisting almost entirely of red, yellow, and blue. Although it is in no senseAbstract,Avondis the

earliest of Mondrian's works to emphasize theprimary colors.

Piet Mondrian, View from the Dunes with Beach and Piers, Domburg, oil and pencil on cardboard, 1909,Museum of Modern

Art, New York City

The earliest paintings that show an inkling of the abstraction to come are a series of canvases from 1905

to 1908, which depict dim scenes of indistinct trees and houses with reflections in still water. Although the

result leads the viewer to begin emphasizing the forms over the content, these paintings are still firmly

rooted in nature; and it is only the knowledge of Mondrian's later achievements that leads one to search

for the roots of his future abstraction in these works.
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nd_Piers,_Domburg%27,_oil_and_pencil_on_cardboard_painting_by_Mondrian,_1909,_Museum_of_Modern_Art,_(New_York_City).jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2013-05-18_villa_mondrian.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2013-05-18_villa_mondrian.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mondriaan_huis_Amersfoort_2.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Modern_Art,_New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Modern_Art,_New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_colorshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_arthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Impressionismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemeentemuseumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauvismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointillismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representation_(arts)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windmillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastoralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landscape_paintinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(arts)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paintinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian#cite_note-Milner_1992.2C_p._9-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian#cite_note-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Schoolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Marishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Marishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian#cite_note-Milner_1992.2C_p._9-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterswijkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian#cite_note-Seuphor-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_Mondrian#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amersfoorthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterswijkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mondriaan_Househttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amersfoort


11/17

Mondrian's art always was intimately related to hisspiritualand philosophical studies. In 1908, he became

interested in thetheosophical movementlaunched byHelena Petrovna Blavatskyin the late 19th century;

and, in 1909, he joined the Dutch branch of theTheosophical Society. The work of Blavatsky and a

parallel spiritual movement,Rudolf Steiner'sAnthroposophy, significantly affected the further

development of his aesthetic.[7]

Blavatsky believed that it was possible to attain a more profound

knowledge of nature than that provided byempiricalmeans, and much of Mondrian's work for the rest ofhis life was inspired by his search for that spiritual knowledge.

Mondrian and his later work were deeply influenced by the 1911 Moderne Kunstkring exhibition

ofCubisminAmsterdam. His search for simplification is shown in two versions ofStill Life with Ginger

Pot(Stilleven met Gemberpot). The 1911 version[8]

is Cubist; in, the 1912 version,[9]

it is reduced to a

round shape withtrianglesandrectangles.

Paris 19111914 [edit]

Piet Mondrian,Gray Tree, 1912, an early experimentation withCubism

In 1911, Mondrian moved toParisand changed his name (dropping an 'a' from Mondriaan) to emphasize

his departure from The Netherlands. This matched the changed signature on his works that is dated tobefore 1907.

[10]While in Paris, the influence of theCubiststyle ofPicassoandGeorges Braqueappeared

almost immediately in Mondrian's work. Paintings such as The Sea (1912) and his various studies of

trees from that year still contain a measure of representation; but increasingly, they are dominated by

geometric shapes and interlocking planes. While Mondrian was eager to absorb the Cubist influence into

his work, it seems clear that he saw Cubism as a "port of call" on his artistic journey, rather than as a

destination.

The Netherlands 19141919 [edit]

Unlike the Cubists, Mondrian still attempted to reconcile his painting with his spiritual pursuits; and, in

1913, he began to fuse his art and his theosophical studies into a theory that signaled his final break fromrepresentational painting. While Mondrian was visiting home in 1914,World War Ibegan, forcing him to

remain in The Netherlands for the duration of the conflict. During this period, he stayed at the Laren

artist's colony, there meetingBart van der LeckandTheo van Doesburg, who were both undergoing their

own personal journeys toward Abstraction. Van der Leck's use of only primary colors in his art greatly

influenced Mondrian. After a meeting with Van der Leck in 1916, Mondrian wrote, "My technique which

was more or less Cubist, and therefore more or less pictorial, came under the influence of his precise
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12/17

method."[11]

With Van Doesburg, Mondrian foundedDe Stijl(The Style), a journal of theDe Stijl Group, in

which he published his first essays defining his theory, for which he adopted the term Neoplasticism.

Mondrian published De Nieuwe Beelding inde schilderkunst (The New Plastic in Painting)[12]

in twelve

installments during 1917 and 1918. This was his first major attempt to express his artistic theory in writing.

Mondrian's best and most-often quoted expression of this theory, however, comes from a letter he wrote

toH.P. Bremmerin 1914:

I construct lines and color combinations on a flat surface, in order to express general beauty with the

utmost awareness. Nature (or, that which I see) inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional

state so that an urge comes about to make something, but I want to come as close as possible to the

truth and abstract everything from that, until I reach the foundation (still just an external foundation!) of

things I believe it is possible that, through horizontal and vertical lines constructed with awareness, but

not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to harmony and rhythm, these basic forms of

beauty, supplemented if necessary by other direct lines or curves, can become a work of art, as strong as

it is true.[13]

Paris 19191938 [edit]

Piet Mondrian and Ptro (Nelly) van Doesburg in Mondrian's Paris studio, 1923
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In the 1921 paintings, many of the black lines (but not all of them) stop short at a seemingly arbitrary

distance from the edge of the canvas, although the divisions between the rectangular forms remain intact.

Here too, the rectangular forms remain mostly colored. As the years passed and Mondrian's work evolved

further, he began extending all of the lines to the edges of the canvas and he also began to use fewer

and fewer colored forms, favoring white instead.

These tendencies are particularly obvious in the lozenge works that Mondrian began producing with

regularity in the mid-1920s. The "lozenge" paintings are square canvases tilted 45 degrees, so that they

hang in a diamond shape. Typical of these is Schilderij No. 1: Lozenge With Two Lines and Blue (1926),

also known as Composition With Blue and Composition in White and Blue, which is currently on display at

thePhiladelphia Museum of Art. One of the most minimal of Mondrian's canvases, this painting consists

only of two black, perpendicular lines and a small triangular form, colored blue. The lines extend all the

way to the edges of the canvas, almost giving the impression that the painting is a fragment of a larger

work.

Although one is hampered by the glass protecting the painting, and by the toll that age and handling have

obviously taken on the canvas, a close examination of this painting begins to reveal something of the

artist's method.[original research?] Mondrian's paintings are not composed of perfectly flat planes of color, as

one might expect. Brush strokes are evident throughout, although they are subtle, and the artist appears

to have used different techniques for the various elements.

The black lines are the flattest elements, with the least amount of depth. The colored forms have the most

obvious brush strokes, all running in one direction. Most interesting, however, are the white forms, which

clearly have been painted in layers, using brush strokes running in different directions. This generates a

greater sense of depth in the white forms, as though they are overwhelming the lines and the colors,

which indeed they were, as Mondrian's paintings of this period came to be increasingly dominated by

white space.

Schilderij No. 1 may be the most extreme extent of Mondrian's minimalism. As the years progressed,

lines began to take precedence over forms in his painting. In the 1930s, he began to use thinner lines and

double lines more frequently, punctuated with a few small colored forms, if any at all. Double lines

particularly excited Mondrian, for he believed they offered his paintings a new dynamism which he was

eager to explore.

London and New York 19381944 [edit]
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Piet Mondrian, Composition 10, 19391942, private collection

In September 1938, Mondrian left Paris in the face of advancingfascismand moved toLondon. After the

Netherlands were invaded and Paris fell in 1940, he left London forManhattan, where he would remain

until his death. Some of Mondrian's later works are difficult to place in terms of his artistic development,

because there were quite a few canvases that he began in Paris or London which he only completed

months or years later in Manhattan. The finished works from this later period demonstrate an

unprecedented business, however, with more lines than any of his work since the 1920s, placed in an

overlapping arrangement that is almost cartographical in appearance. He spent many long hours painting

on his own until his hands blistered and he sometimes cried or made himself sick.

Mondrian produced Lozenge Composition With Four Yellow Lines (1933), a simple painting that

introduced what for him was a shocking innovation: thick, colored lines instead of black ones. After that

one painting, this practice remained dormant in Mondrian's work until he arrived in Manhattan, at whichtime he began to embrace it with abandon. In some examples of this new direction, such

as Composition (1938) / Place de la Concorde (1943), he appears to have taken unfinished black-line

paintings from Paris and completed them in New York by adding short perpendicular lines of different

colors, running between the longer black lines, or from a black line to the edge of the canvas. The newly-

colored areas are thick, almost bridging the gap between lines and forms, and it is startling to see color in

a Mondrian painting that is unbounded by black. Other works mix long lines of red amidst the familiar

black lines, creating a new sense of depth by the addition of a colored layer on top of the black one.

The new canvases that Mondrian began in Manhattan are even more startling, and indicate the beginning

of a new idiom that was cut short by the artist's death. New York City(1942) is a complex lattice of red,

blue, and yellow lines, occasionally interlacing to create a greater sense of depth than his previous works.An unfinished 1941 version of this work uses strips of painted paper tape, which the artist could rearrange

at will to experiment with different designs.

His paintingBroadway Boogie-Woogie(194243) atThe Museum of Modern Artin Manhattan was highly

influential in the school ofabstract geometricpainting. The piece is made up of a number of shimmering

squares of bright color that leap from the canvas, then appear to shimmer, drawing the viewer into those

neon lights. In this painting and the unfinishedVictory Boogie Woogie(194244), Mondrian replaced

former solid lines with lines created from small adjoining rectangles of color, created in part by using small
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pieces of paper tape in various colors. Larger unbounded rectangles of color punctuate the design, some

with smaller concentric rectangles inside them. While Mondrian's works of the 1920s and 1930s tend to

have an almost scientific austerity about them, these are bright, lively paintings, reflecting the upbeat

music that inspired them and the city in which they were made.

In these final works, the forms have indeed usurped the role of the lines, opening another new door for

Mondrian's development as an abstractionist. The Boogie-Woogie paintings were clearly more of a

revolutionary change than an evolutionary one, representing the most profound development in

Mondrian's work since his abandonment of representational art in 1913.

In 2008 the Dutch television programAndere Tijdenfound the only known movie footage with

Mondrian.[14]

The discovery of the film footage was announced at the end of a two-year research program

on the Victory Boogie Woogie. The research found that the painting was in very good condition and that

Mondrian painted the composition in one session. It also was found that the composition was changed

radically by Mondrian shortly before his death by using small pieces of colored tape.

Wall works [edit]

When the 47-year-old Piet Mondrian left the Netherlands for unfettered Paris for the second and last time

in 1919, he set about at once to make his studio a nurturing environment for paintings he had in mind that

would increasingly express the principles ofNeo-Plasticismabout which he had been writing for two

years. To hide the studio's structural flaws quickly and inexpensively, he tacked up large rectangular

placards, each in a single color or neutral hue. Smaller colored paper squares and rectangles, composed

together, accented the walls. Then came an intense period of painting. Then again he addressed the

walls, repositioning the colored cutouts, adding to their number, altering the dynamics of color and space,

producing new tensions and equilibrium. Before long, he had established a creative schedule in which a

period of painting took turns with a period of experimentally regrouping the smaller papers on the walls, a

process that directly fed the next period of painting. It was a pattern he followed for the rest of his life,

through wartime moves from Paris to Londons Hampstead in 1938 and 1940, across the Atlantic toManhattan.

At the age of 71 in the fall of 1943, Mondrian moved into his second and final Manhattan studio at 15 East

59th Street, and set about to recreate the environment he had learned over the years was most congenial

to his modest way of life and most stimulating to his art. He painted the high walls the same off-white he

used on his easel and on the seats, tables and storage cases he designed and fashioned meticulously

from discarded orange and apple-crates. He glossed the top of a white metal stool in the same brilliant

primary red he applied to the cardboard sheath he made for the radio-phonograph that spilled forth his

belovedjazzfrom well-traveled records. Visitors to this last studio seldom saw more than one or two new

canvases, but found, often to their astonishment, that eight large compositions of colored bits of paper he

had tacked and re-tacked to the walls in ever-changing relationships constituted together an environmentthat, paradoxically and simultaneously, was both kinetic and serene, stimulating and restful. It was the

best space, Mondrian said, that he had ever inhabited. Tragically, he was there for only a few months, as

he died of pneumonia in February 1944.

After his death, Mondrians friend and sponsor in Manhattan, artist Harry Holtzman, and another painter

friend, Fritz Glarner, carefully documented the studio on film and in still photographs before opening it to

the public for a six-week exhibition. Before dismantling the studio, Holtzman (who was also Mondrians

heir) traced the wall compositions precisely, prepared exact portable facsimiles of the space each had
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occupied, and affixed to each the original surviving cut-out components. These portable Mondrian

compositions have become known as "The Wall Works". They have been exhibited twice since

Mondrians death at Manhattans Museum of Modern Art (1983/1995-96), once inSoHoat The Carpenter

+ Hochman Gallery (1984), once each at Galerie Tokoro inTokyo, Japan(1993), the XXII Biennial ofSao

Paulo(1994),The University of Michigan(1995) and, the first time to be shown in Europe, at

theAkademie der Knste(Academy of The Arts), in Berlin (February 22 April 22, 2007).

Death
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