Piet Mondrian - Artist and Philosopher
When he returned to Holland and was forced to remain there for the duration of World War I, he became associated with both Theo van Doesburg and Bart van der Leck and the ‘de Stijl’ movement was born. These men and many other artists, poets and architects sought to express themselves in an aesthetically pure manner – to us that would be translated as abstract. (Composition with Color Planes and Gray Lines 1 - http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/... ) In 1942 Mondrian wrote an article on “Pure Plastic Art.” It is interesting to me that Mondrian was at heart a philosopher. To quote him: “Art is only a substitute as long as the beauty of life is deficient. It will disappear in proportion as life gains in equilibrium. Today art is still of the greatest importance, because it demonstrates plastically in a direct way, liberated of individual conceptions, the laws of equilibrium.” Mondrian’s belief in plastic art was sacred to him. In fact, it was his unyielding resolve that caused him to break with the “de Stijl” group when Theo van Doesburg preferred the use of the diagonals over what Mondrian considered the correctness of right angles. Still I believe it is fortunate for us that Mondrian had to go his own way and leave behind the views of his friends.
After the war, Mondrian went back to Paris where he painted in the style we associate with his name. (“Composition in Red, Yellow and Blue” - http://titan.glo.be/~gd30144/mondrian.ht... ) He was so true to his art that even the walls in his own apartment were painted to look like one of his paintings. When World War II broke out he moved safely to England and then on to New York. Mondrian loved the freedom of America and painted two of his most famous works there. (“Broadway Boogie Woogie http://www.artchive.com/artchive/ftptoc/... and “Victory Boogie Woogie” - http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/engels/coll... )
Looking at Mondrian’s career and life, I find it ironic that we use his designs for kitchen wallpaper knowing that Mondrian painted his own walls in just that way. Mondrian’s major artistic influence came to be on architecture, graphic arts and, indeed, interior design. And while his art is not for us the end-all he believed it to be, it is an aesthetically pleasing backdrop for life.
Copyright 2001 Patricia Dake
Sources:
Elgar, Frank. Mondrian. New York, Washington: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers. 1968
Janson, H.W. History of Art ~ A Survey of the Major
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