The work of this master has influenced many contemporary artists. In addition, we can say that a number of areas of contemporary art have a pronounced influence of his work and the work of artists from the circle "De Stijl", in which he was a member.
Mondrian's real name is Peter Cornelis, he was born in 1872 in Amersfoort. Peter studied his craft at the Amsterdam Academy of Arts, the young artist showed good success there. At first he was heavily influenced by the Dutch school, and his first works were written in the tradition of the Dutch.
From Cubism to Modernism
In 1911, Mondrian meets the Cubists, and realizes that their work is much closer to him. And soon the young artist departs from works with a plot, atmosphere and spatial depth and deliberately limits the expressive means of his paintings.
In 1912-1916, he uses his famous grid, on the basis of which he builds compositions. At this time, he prefers a reddish-brown palette, as well as gray shades.
In 1917, in Paris, Mondrian and his friends founded the journal De Stijl, an avant-garde movement, and a circle with the same name. They called their direction in painting neoplasticism. This meant that the artist reduced expressive means to a minimum, using only white, gray, black, as well as the main colors of the spectrum in their strongest tones.
In 1919, Mondrian was an active member of the "De Stijl" circle, which also included Aud, Rietveld, Theo van Doosburg, and Van Esteren. These adherents of modernism were close to him in style, so each had some kind of influence on him during the transition to geometric shapes, when he gradually left cubism and moved to colored rectangles - red, yellow, blue.
When Mondrian's style was fully formed, he began to write in a completely different way: rigid outlines of straight lines, asymmetry, dynamic balance. In his works, he strove to show "pure plastic reality" and rejected particulars and details, tried to more clearly express the universal fundamental principles of creativity.
Interesting fact: Mondrian was included in Hitler's "black list" in 1940, and in order not to risk his life on the eve of the impending war, he moved to New York. And two years later, his personal exhibition took place in this city.
In America, the artist's style of creativity has changed slightly: he moved away from the strict classics of the avant-garde, and in his works a new syncopic complexity and playfulness of rhythm appeared. As an example - the picture "Boogie-Woogie on Broadway".
Personal life
After studying in Amsterdam, in 1911 Pete went to France - the cradle of the arts, hoping to find like-minded people there. However, after three years he had to return to Holland to care for his seriously ill father.
In 1917 Pete returned to Paris, often in London.
Despite his almost fanatical passion for painting, Mondrian did not lead a reclusive lifestyle: both in Paris and in London, his house was always full of guests. Moreover, the whole society was right among his works - in his workshop.
Mondrian was often seen in the company of American socialite Peggy Guggenheim - they famously danced to jazz compositions in clubs in London. He was friends with the Russian artist Naum Gabo and his wife Miriam, with whom he also often danced jazz.
Piet Mondrian died in 1944 and is buried in Cypress Hills Cemetery in New York.
