THE DE STIJL MOVEMENT

PIET MONDRIAN

Pieter Cornelius Mondriaan

1872-1944

Born in the Netherlands

Taught Primary School and painted on the side.

Mondriaan started his artistic career painting nature and landscapes. The style in which he painted in was

known as the Dutch Impressionistic Style, but soon evolved into Post-Impressionistic like the Dutch

Painter, Vincent Van Gogh.

Avond (Evening): Red Tree 1908

Sheepfold in the Evening 1906

In 1911, Mondriaan moved to Paris where he saw the new geometric work of cubists such as Pablo Picasso.

Weeping Woman

Grey Tree, 1912 Trees, 1912

Change emerged in Mondraain’s work were he became greatly influenced by Cubism. He also dropped the second "A" in his name, but no one really knows why.

• Notice the tree image starts to disappeared and the surface has been broken up into units through to use of vertical and horizontal lines.

Mondrian’s painting style changes from abstraction to non-objective through the inspiration of Cubism.

Tableau No. 2, 19131916

In 1914, Mondrian was visiting his home in The Netherlands when World War I broke out in Europe. He was forced to stay there until 1919. During his time back in The Netherlands, Mondrian met painters Bart van der Lech and Theo van Doesburg and architect Gerrit Rietveld. Van Doesburg and Mondrian combined to begin The De Stijl, or "The Style" art movement.

THE DE STIJL MOVEMENT

Composition with Yellow, Blue, and RedPiet Mondrian1939-42

Arithmetische CompositieTheo van Doesburg1924

Red and Blue ChairDesigned by Gerrit Rietveld1917

This movement was based on simplicity, and pure abstraction through the use of straight horizontal and vertical lines and rectangular shapes and forms. The works avoided symmetry and attained asymmetrical balance by use of primary colors (red, blue, yellow),values of black, grey, and white, strong black geometric lines on a white background. Also known as Neoplasticism.

THE DE STIJL MOVEMENT

In 1924, De Stijl architect and designer, Gerrit Rietveld designed the Rietveld Schroder House for Mrs. Truus Schroder-Schrader and her 3 children in Utrect, Netherlands. Mrs. Schroder lived in the house until her death in 1985 and now it is a museum.

The Rietveld Schroder House

In 1938, Mondrian moved to London and then New York City. Inspired by the elements, Mondrian tried to capture the many unexpected tempos, broken rhythms, and dynamic tensions of the city.

New York, New York1942

Mondrian's final completed painting. Some other elements of focus include the lights, constant noise, music, dancing, and the busy streets.

Broadway Boogie Woogie1942-43

Mondrian's unfinished piece painted just before he died of pneumonia in New York City.

Victory Boogie Woogie1942-44

Mondrian and The De Stijl movement have even influenced how design and style appear in the modern world.

10 Color Studies (Daily Grade) 2 Roughs

The Student completed and turned in a paper cutout composition based on Mondrian’s work.

The student used only squares, rectangles, and straight perpendicular lines or 45 degree angles only in the composition.

The student used only black, white, yellow, red, and blue paper in the composition.

The composition is balanced asymmetrically.

The student demonstrated good craftsmanship in the composition.No glue stains, rough edges, etc.

TOTAL0-100 0-45 0-15 0-15 0-15 0-10 100

GRADING RUBRIC:

DESIGN PROBLEM: Based on what you have learned about Piet Mondrian's life and The Destijl Movement; you will design and create an asymmetrical composition that reflects Mondrian’s artistic style and what he might create next.

Materials:Elmer’s GlueColored Construction PaperScissorsRulers

10THUMBNAIL SKETCHES

REVOLUTION

MONDRIAN'sEVOLUTION TO

Symmetrical Balance Asymmetrical Balance

Radial Balance - elements radiate from a swirl around in a circular or spiral path

Step 1: Draw 8 small interesting compositions on 4” x 4” square paper using everyday objects as your subject and contour lines.

Contour Lines are the outlines or raised ridgelines of an object. The contour lines should intersect at least THREE edges of your paper square.

Step 2: Choose 2 of your eight and Trace 3 Times on the 4 x 4 paper then, Play with Rotating your designs.

**Develop a repeating pattern that creates radial balance.**

Step 2: Examples of Rotation

Rotation Patterns:• 1-1-1-1• 1-2-2-1• Rotate one way each time (1-2-3-4)• Mirror Images (designs facing each other)

1 2

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Step 3: Trace again onto the 8” x 8” Square Paper

Step 4: Connect lines to create Enclosed Shapes and Spaces.

Shape - flat enclosed space. Measured by 2 dimensions

(2D) height and width.

Space – is the area around or between an object.

• Positive Space is what fills up the area.

• Negative Space is what is remaining or leftover.

Step 5: Trace whole composition again onto a second square paper 8"x 8".

Step 6: Use color pencils to fill in the shapes on one of your large 8” x 8” squares.

Then, cut out the shapes to use as a stencil to trace onto construction paper.

Step 7: Cut the shapes out of construction paper and neatly glue them onto the second large square

(template).

Then, Repeat Steps to Complete TWO of these compositions focused on RADIAL BALANCE.