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Title: Abstract Representation


1
Abstract Representation
  • Piet Mondrian

2
Enduring Understanding
  • Students will understand
  • abstract explorations brought
  • about new energies and
  • dimensions in artistic creation.

3
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?

4
5W1H
When 1872 - 1944
How Oil Painting
Where Netherlands
Piet Mondrian
Which De Stijl Neo-Plasticism
Why Influence
What Geometric Abstraction
5
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.

6
When
  • 1914 World War I.
  • 1929 The Great Depression.
  • 1939 World War II.
  • 1918-30 Jazz Age.

7
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.

8
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.

9
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
10
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.

11
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

12
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.

13
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 -

14
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.
15
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.

16
What- 1872 - 1909
Landscape with Ditch, c. 1895 Watercolour, 49 x
66 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
17
What- 1872 - 1909
On the Lappenbrink, c. 1899 Gouache, 108 x 86
cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
18
What- 1872 - 1909
Woods, 1898/1900 Gouache, 45.5 x 57 cm Haags
Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
19
What- 1872 - 1909
Mollen (Mill) Mill in Sunlight, 1908 Oil on
canvases, 114 x 87 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The
Hague
20
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
21
What- 1909-12
The Red Tree, c. 1909 Oil on canvas, 37.4 x 39
inches Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
22
What- 1909-12
Gray Tree, 1911 Oil on canvas, 78.5 x 107.5
cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
23
What- 1909-12
Apple Tree in Flower by Piet Mondrian, 1912 Oil
on canvas, 78 x 106 cm Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
24
From naturalism to stylization to abstraction
25
What- 1909-12
Trees in Blossom, 1912 Oil on canvas, 65 x 75
cm The Judith Rothschild Foundation, New York
26
What- 1909-12
Landscape with Trees, 1911/12 Oil on canvas, 120
x 100 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
27
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
28
What- 1909-12
Still Life with Gingerpot I, 1911-12 Oil on
canvas, 65.5 x 75 cm Guggenheim Museum, New York
29
What- 1909-12
Still Life with Gingerpot II, 1911-12 Oil on
canvases, 91.5 x 120 cm Guggenheim Museum, New
York
30
What- 1912 - 1914
Tableau No. 2/Composition No. VII, 1913 Oil on
canvas, 104.4 x 113.6 cm Guggenheim Museum, New
York
31
What- 1912 - 1914
Composition 8, 1914 Oil on canvas, 94.4 x 55.6
cm Guggenheim Museum, New York
32
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
33
What- 1914 - 1919
Composition, 1916 Oil on canvas, 119 x 75.1
cm The Solomon R. Guggebheim Museum, New York
34
What- 1914 - 1919
Composition Chequerboard, Dark Colours, 1919 Oil
on canvas, 84 x 102 cm Haags Gemeentemuseum, The
Hague
35
What- 1919 - 1938
Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue 1921 Oil on
canvas, 39 x 35 cm MoMA, New York
36
What- 1919 - 1938
Lozenge Composition with Red, Black, Blue and
Yellow, 1925 Oil on canvas, 77 x 77 cm Private
Collection
37
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
38
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,
39
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
40
What- 1938 - 1944
Composition No. III Blanc-Jaune , 1935-42 Oil on
canvas, 101 x 51 cm Christies, New York
41
What- 1938 - 1944
Composition No. 10, 1939-42 Oil on canvas, 80 x
73 cm Private Collection
42
What- 1938 - 1944
Place de la Concorde, 1938-43 Oil on canvas,
93.98 x 94.46 cm Dallas Museum of Art, US
43
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
44
What- 1938 - 1944
New York City II, 1942-44 Oil on canvas, 119 x
115 cm Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen,
Düsseldorf, Germany.
45
What- 1938 - 1944
Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1942-3 Oil on canvas, 127
x 127 cm MoMA, New York
46
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.

47
What- Broadway Boogie Woogie
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileBroadway_theatre
s_1920.jpg
http//www.umass.edu/rso/guild/broadway.jpg
48
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.

49
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.

50
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.

51
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.

52
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.

53
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.

54
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.

55
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.

56
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.
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