Abstract Representation

1
Abstract Representation

• Piet Mondrian

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Enduring Understanding

• Students will understand
• abstract explorations brought
• about new energies and
• dimensions in artistic creation.

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Essential Questions

• Overarching
• How has abstraction affected our way of viewing
  art?
• What can abstraction achieve that realistic art
  cannot?
• Topical
• What relationship does man have with nature?
• How is it expressed in Mondrians art?

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5W1H
When 1872 - 1944
How Oil Painting
Where Netherlands
Piet Mondrian
Which De Stijl Neo-Plasticism
Why Influence
What Geometric Abstraction
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Who- Piet Mondrian

• 1872 Mondrian was born on 7 March, in
  Amersfoort, Netherlands.
• 1889 Obtains a teaching diploma in art for
  primary schools.
• 1892 Becomes a teacher in the secondary schools
  and enrolls into
• the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam.
• 1893 Supports himself by making copies of
  portraits and landscapes at
• the Rjikmuseum.
• 1899 Hits by a period of crisis and contemplated
  becoming a preacher.
• 1912 Moves to Paris.
• 1938 Moves from Paris to London because of the
  encroaching Germans.
• 1940 Leaves for New York city after the fall of
  Paris into the Germans hands.
• 1944 Died of pneumonia in New York.

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When

• 1914 World War I.
• 1929 The Great Depression.
• 1939 World War II.
• 1918-30 Jazz Age.

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Where

• Netherlands
• He lived in the artistic backwater of Holland
  which was remote and away from the city.
• Paris
• Post-war Paris saw to a time of intellectual
  liberation. This is the reason why alternative
  art was commanding a growing fan base.
• The city was the center of art then.
• America
• New York city became the most populous city in
  the 1920s.
• Despite WWII, New York emerged unaffected. The
  war actually relieved the country from the 1929
  depression and fuelled an economic boom.
• Jazz was also emerging as popular music at that
  time. New Yorkers were singing and dancing to the
  sound of swing.

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Which

• De Stijl- as a Movement
• De Stijl is The Style translated into English.
• It is also the name of a journal founded by the
  pioneers of abstract art such as Modrian and Theo
  van Doesburg.
• It is also known as Neo-Plasticism, a name the De
  Stijl circle eventually came to use.
• The abstraction was based on a strict geometry
  of horizontals and verticals (Tate).
• It was a style that was also influencing modern
  architecture and design.

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Which

• De Stijl- as a Movement

Interrelation of Volumes, 1919 by Geroges
Vantongerloo Sandstone, 22.5 x 13.7 x 13.7
cm Tate Gallery, UK
Counter-Composition VI, 1925 by Theo van
Doesburg Oil on canvas, 69 x 69.1 cm Tate
Gallery, UK
Composition, 1918 by Bart van der Leck Oil on
canvas, 73.9 x 63.2 cm Tate Gallery, UK
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Which

• Neo-Plasticism- as a Movement
• It is a term adopted by Piet Mondrian for his
  type of abstract painting.
• Neo means new and painting and sculpture were
  considered as plastic art, hence the term means
  new art.
• Mondrian published his lengthy essay entitled
  Neo-Plasticism in Pictorial Art, in the first
  eleven issues of the journal De Stijl, claiming
  As a pure representation of the human mind, art
  will express itself in an aesthetically purified,
  that is to say, abstract form.
• Neo-Plasticism rejected the details of
  appearance.
• Instead, it implemented abstraction of form and
  colour- from natural form and colour to the clean
  straight line and primary palette.
• The movement under Mondrian generated art in the
  most basic and fundamental state- primary colours
  or non-colours, only squares or rectangles, and
  straight lines.

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What

• Subject Matter
• 1872- 1912
• Mostly landscapes, idyllic images of his native
  Holland.
• Windmills, fields and rivers.
• 1909- 1912
• Nature- the sea and trees.
• 1914- 1919
• Geometric shapes
• 1919- 1944
• More geometric shapes and lines.
• Lines
• Geometric Shapes

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What

• Theme
• Mondrian was branded as the father of geometric
  abstraction.
• His truth sprouts from his spiritual and
  philosophical studies in Theosophy.
• To him, perception is not reliable and hence what
  we perceive with our eyes can be deceiving.
• The reality is actually behind the veil of the
  naturalistic world. Thats the reason for him to
  abandon all natural forms.
• His abstraction journey is the search for the
  essence of what he sees (his surrounding).
• This essence is represented simply by two types
  of lines- horizontal and vertical lines, primary
  colour and neutrals like black, gray and white.

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What

• 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."
• - Mondrian -

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What
What is Theosophy It consists of religious
philosophy and metaphysics. The philosophy
embraces that all religions are attempts to
help humanity evolve to greater perfection, and
therefore each has their own portion of
truth. Its fundamental beliefs- nature does not
happen by chance, but everything living or not,
is put together from basic building blocks
evolving towards consciousness. It also
believes in universality- all life irregardless
of the classification (i.e. humans, animals,
vegetables, etc) are involved in an
inter-connected single life.
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What

• What is Metaphysics
• In Greek, Metá means beyond and physiká means
  physical or matter.
• From the explanation above, metaphysics seeks to
  answer questions raised about anything beyond
  matter- things in the world, including the human
  body.
• Its philosophy investigates the nature of being,
  existence and reality, and in the case of
  Einstein- time and space.

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What- 1872 - 1909
Landscape with Ditch, c. 1895 Watercolour, 49 x
66 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
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What- 1872 - 1909
On the Lappenbrink, c. 1899 Gouache, 108 x 86
cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
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What- 1872 - 1909
Woods, 1898/1900 Gouache, 45.5 x 57 cm Haags
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
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What- 1872 - 1909
Mollen (Mill) Mill in Sunlight, 1908 Oil on
canvases, 114 x 87 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The
Hague
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What- 1872 - 1909
This is a result of a visit to the Zeeland
region of the Dutch east coast. It features a
church at Zoutelande. The colours are
contrasting- orange red against purplish blue.
Together with the monumental façade, it creates
a mystic mood. It is also evident in this
painting that Mondrian was using the style of
the Pointilists.
Sun, Church in Zeeland, Zoutelande Church Façade,
1909 Oil on canvases, 118.5 x 90 cm Tate Gallery,
UK
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What- 1909-12
The Red Tree, c. 1909 Oil on canvas, 37.4 x 39
inches Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
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What- 1909-12
Gray Tree, 1911 Oil on canvas, 78.5 x 107.5
cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
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What- 1909-12
Apple Tree in Flower by Piet Mondrian, 1912 Oil
on canvas, 78 x 106 cm Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
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From naturalism to stylization to abstraction
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What- 1909-12
Trees in Blossom, 1912 Oil on canvas, 65 x 75
cm The Judith Rothschild Foundation, New York
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What- 1909-12
Landscape with Trees, 1911/12 Oil on canvas, 120
x 100 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
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What- 1912 - 1914
This is the last of the trees that Mondrian
painted. His tree series stemmed from the
landscapes that he had been creating over the
period of 1909-13. The work shows the influence
of Analytic Cubism.
The Tree, c.1913 Oil on canvas, 100.2 x 67.2
cm Tate Gallery, UK
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What- 1909-12
Still Life with Gingerpot I, 1911-12 Oil on
canvas, 65.5 x 75 cm Guggenheim Museum, New York
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What- 1909-12
Still Life with Gingerpot II, 1911-12 Oil on
canvases, 91.5 x 120 cm Guggenheim Museum, New
York
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What- 1912 - 1914
Tableau No. 2/Composition No. VII, 1913 Oil on
canvas, 104.4 x 113.6 cm Guggenheim Museum, New
York
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What- 1912 - 1914
Composition 8, 1914 Oil on canvas, 94.4 x 55.6
cm Guggenheim Museum, New York
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What- 1914 - 1919
Ocean 5, 1914 Charcoal and gouache on wood-pulp,
wove paper glued to Homosote panel, 94.4 x 55.6
cm Guggenheim Museum, New York
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What- 1914 - 1919
Composition, 1916 Oil on canvas, 119 x 75.1
cm The Solomon R. Guggebheim Museum, New York
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What- 1914 - 1919
Composition Chequerboard, Dark Colours, 1919 Oil
on canvas, 84 x 102 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The
Hague
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What- 1919 - 1938
Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue 1921 Oil on
canvas, 39 x 35 cm MoMA, New York
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What- 1919 - 1938
Lozenge Composition with Red, Black, Blue and
Yellow, 1925 Oil on canvas, 77 x 77 cm Private
Collection
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Lozenge Composition with Red, Black, Blue and
Yellow, 1925 By Piet Mondrian. Oil on canvas, 77
x 77 cm
Squatri Purma, 1970, 213 x 381 cm. by Anthony
Poon. Acrylic on canvas
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What- 1919 - 1938
Fox Trot Lozenge Composition with Three Black
Lines , 1929 Oil on canvas, 78.2 x 78.2 cm Yale
University Art Gallery,
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What- 1919 - 1938
This is the most extreme of his minimalist works.
Lozenge with Two Lines and Blue, 1926 Oil on
canvas, 61.1 x 61.1 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art
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What- 1938 - 1944
Composition No. III Blanc-Jaune , 1935-42 Oil on
canvas, 101 x 51 cm Christies, New York
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What- 1938 - 1944
Composition No. 10, 1939-42 Oil on canvas, 80 x
73 cm Private Collection
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What- 1938 - 1944
Place de la Concorde, 1938-43 Oil on canvas,
93.98 x 94.46 cm Dallas Museum of Art, US
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What- 1938 - 1944
New York City I, 1941-2 Oil on canvas, 119.3 x
114.2 cm Musée National d'art Moderne, Centre
Georges Pompidou, Paris
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What- 1938 - 1944
New York City II, 1942-44 Oil on canvas, 119 x
115 cm Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Düsseldorf, Germany.
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What- 1938 - 1944
Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1942-3 Oil on canvas, 127
x 127 cm MoMA, New York
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What- Broadway Boogie Woogie

• New York citys architecture, American jazz,
  particularly boogiewoogie fascinated Mondrian.
• Boogie Woogie is a style of piano-based blues
  that was very popular in the 1930s 40s. It is
  also associated with dancing.
• As a skilful dancer, he was able to feel the
  beat, the disrespectful approach to melody
  (something new at that time), and the
  improvisations of boogie woogie.
• He liken them to the deconstruction of natural
  appearance in his painting and reconstruction
  through a dynamic rhythm of pure oppositions.
• Broadway is a huge avenue in New York city with a
  theatre district.
• Mondrians Broadway Boogie Woogie is like a
  cartographical representation of the paths and
  the streets in the district.
• The staccato vibration of colors in the
  painting evokes the syncopate beat of jazz and
  the blinking electric lights of Broadway.

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What- Broadway Boogie Woogie
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileBroadway_theatre
s_1920.jpg
http//www.umass.edu/rso/guild/broadway.jpg
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Why- Inside Influences

• Mondrian was introduced to art at a very young
  age because his father was a drawing teacher.
• He was living in the backwater of Holland, away
  from the city. This explains his early
  influences- naturalistic and impressionistic
  styles, away from the alternative experiments in
  Paris.
• In 1911, he visited the exhibition by Georges
  Braque (another Cubist) and was very impressed
  with it. The exhibition compelled him to visit
  Paris.
• He returned to Netherlands in 1914 when his
  father became seriously ill.
• When he returned, the war broke out, which forced
  him to remain in Netherlands for the next five
  years.
• When WWII broke out, it had caused great anxiety
  and fear within him as observed in his
  correspondence.

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Why- Outside Influences

• Cubism
• Modrians works from 1909-1914 were inspired by
  the 1911 Moderne Kunstkring exhibition of Cubism
  in Amsterdam.
• The form of Cubism in his work is more Analytic
  Cubism, where nature is treated as basic shapes
  like cubes, spheres, cylinders and cones.
• Works which are obvious with the influence are
  the Gingerpots and the trees.

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Why- Outside Influences

• Theosophy
• In the year 1908, he became increasingly
  interested in the spiritual and philosophical
  study of theosophy.
• It was a movement started by Helena Petrovna
  Blavatsky (1831 1891). Shes a Russian
• See under What for its fundamental beliefs.

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How

• Mode of Representation- Painting
• 1872 - 1912
• Naturalistic or styles that were influenced by
  the artistic movements of the time-
  Impressionism, Pointilism and the vivid colours
  of Fauvism.
• He also created Post-Impressionistic works, most
  of it in display in the Netherlands.
• Some works within this period hinted the
  abstraction that would soon arrive.

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How

• 1912 1914
• This is the period when Mondrian was at Paris.
• Here, we see the influence of Picasso and Braque
  on Mondrian.
• His studies of trees began to depart from a
  representative style to one that bears geometric
  shapes and interlocking planes found in Cubism.
• Painting like The Sea, 1912 is evidently Cubism
  in style.
• This period includes his explorations stemming
  from the landscapes he had been painting- the
  trees.
• One particular work entitled The Tree, c.1913
  bears influence of Analytic Cubism.

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How

• 1914 1919
• In the year 1913, Mondrians studies in theosophy
  was leading him to making that defining break
  from representational painting.
• His contemporaries Bart van der Leck and Theo van
  Doesburg who were then undergoing their own
  journey of abstraction.
• Van der Lecks use of primary colours influenced
  Mondrian.
• This is when Neo-Plasticism was born,
  characterized by lines and colour combinations
  on a flat surface (Mondrian, 1914).
• The lines are either horizontal or vertical.
• The composition may look planned and calculated
  but they are actually intuitive.

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How

• 1919 1938
• The paintings look like grids in the late 1919.
• The style that he is well-known for began by
  1920.
• The early paintings of this period have thinner
  outlines .
• These lines are grey in colour and appear to fade
  when approaching the edge of the painting.
• The forms (squares) are smaller and more in
  numbers as compared to the later paintings of
  this period. Works belonging to this period are
  Composition A,1920 and Composition B, 1921.
• Soon these gave way to thick black outlines
  separating the forms (squares).
• The forms (squares) get bigger and fewer in
  numbers and they are left white in colour. These
  works represent the peak of Mondrians works.

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How

• 1919 1938
• This was the time when the lozenge works emerged.
• They are basically square pieces tilted in
  forty-five degrees.
• The works are looking minimal- appear as a
  fragment of a bigger picture.
• Upon close inspection, the lines and forms are
  not perfectly flat- brush strokes are evident,
  particularly on the forms.
• These brush strokes show a single direction.
• The white forms become more domineering and even
  overwhelming the lines and the forms.
• As the year progresses, the lines began to take
  precedence.
• In the 1930s, the lines became thinner and
  doubled up and the coloured forms became smaller.

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How

• 1938 1944
• The works that are completed in New York shows
  for the first time, the sense of busyness.
• He drew a lot more lines than usual and
  overlapped these lines.
• These works looked like maps or charts.
• Instead of using black or grey lines, he started
  to use colours for his lines, which he tried only
  once with the painting entitled Lozenge
  Composition with Four Yellow Lines, 1933.
• Perpendicular lines of different colours are
  added to the black lines.
• The colours are unbounded by black lines or mixed
  amidst them.