From Wikipedia
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan was a
Dutch painter and theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists
of the 20th century. 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.
Mondrian's art was highly utopian
and was concerned with a search for universal values and aesthetics. He
proclaimed in 1914: “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.” His art, however, always remained
rooted in nature.
He was a contributor to the De
Stijl art movement and group, which he co-founded with Theo van Doesburg. He
evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neoplasticism. This was the
new 'pure plastic art' which he believed was necessary in order to create
'universal beauty'. 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). Mondrian's arrival in Paris from the Netherlands in 1911 marked
the beginning of a period of profound change. 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 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. Color Field
painting, Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism), but also fields outside the
domain of painting, such as design, architecture and fashion.
Design historian Stephen Bayley
said: 'Mondrian has come to mean Modernism. His name and his work sum up the
High Modernist ideal. 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.'