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Piet Mondrian - Artist and Philosopher

© Tricia Dake

In the first half of the 20th century, Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) created an artistic style known as Neo-Plasticism. Curiously enough it is not a style that has been followed by many serious artists, but remains solely his own. Perhaps this is because Mondrian accomplished it so well; any attempt to follow in his footsteps seems to be merely an imitation. Indeed how does one improve on perfection?

When I first saw the art of Piet Mondrian, I was in college. I remember thinking, “Okay, so what’s the big deal?” I mean after all it looked like a pattern for linoleum or maybe kitchen wallpaper. Fifteen years later as I revisit Mondrian’s life's work, I understand. What nowadays - and even 15 years ago - seemed nothing special was, in the 1920’s, new – amazingly so. Mondrian wasn’t painting in anyone else’s style, he was following his own vision – a very balanced orderly vision. Piet Mondrian was a purist, true to his ideals. Because of this, he was able to continue in his own unique style through years of poverty. He was an idealist who embraced the creativity of the era in which he lived. Like Sir Thomas More (1516) before him and Aldous Huxley (1962) after him, Mondrian believed Utopia - a socially, politically and morally perfect world - was achievable, and he sought to create an art worthy of it.

As a young man, Piet Mondrian started out painting according to Dutch tradition. In the first decade of the 20th century he worked at mastering the art of painting. In the next decade, his works took on a more abstract quality. He would often paint the same subjects – a windmill, a church tower or a particular tree over and over again as he tried to achieve a certain result. He tried out each new artistic trend as he came across it. When he followed the artistic trend of Symbolism, his art was very much like that of others painting in the same style. Even painting in the style of the French Fauvists and the German Expressionists (“The Red Tree” - http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/... ) or the Pointillism of Georges Seurat, his art lacked the originality that he would discover in Neo-Plasticism. Mondrian painted some wonderful paintings in the style of Dutch Naturalism - a style that I find myself quite comfortable with. But only when Mondrian went to live in Paris did his art begin to leave the traditions of others behind. In Paris he was immediately attracted to the Cubism of Picasso and Braque and when he painted in that style, it was his own particular version of Cubism. It was notable enough that art reviewers began to remark on it. (Composition No. II: Composition in Line and Color - http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/... ) But Mondrian couldn’t stop there. He was compelled to move on in his artistic search.

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