Piet Mondrian was a Dutch artist. Born in 1872. , he died in New York City in 1944. He is generally known for his early contributions to abstract art but his beginnings were very much in natural, representational workHe painted a farm near Duivendrecht at least twenty times. Above you can see it in pale winter light perhaps at the end of the day though it might be early morning. I find the patterns of interlocking branches in the trees not only appealing but they seem to herald some of the abstract work that was to follow in the 1920's. This particular scene evidences Mondrian's keen awareness of subtle nuances in light and shadow. It was painted in 1916 in the middle of World War One.
There is a quiet stillness about the canvas and I think you sense that the artist is less interested in creating a naturalistic image of the farm than in observing how the different elements connect with each other. Colouring is as subdued as the ethereal lighting.
Mondrian in New York in 1942
In 1911, Mondrian had visited an early Cubist exhibition of paintings by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso and this led to much experimentation as he began to embrace modernism, leaving his comfort zone far behind. He once said this of his later work - "Every true artist has been inspired more by the beauty of lines and color and the relationships between them than by the concrete subject of the picture."
Below is Mondrian's "Die Ideale" which is housed in the municipal art gallery of Den Haag in The Netherlands. I am not sure when exactly it was painted but he created many canvases like this and it is perhaps typical of his later work - like a trademark style. Simple lines, boxes and blocks of colour creating a mysterious, stripped down beauty.
The first is a lovely painting and the reflection is just amazing. How he jumped to paint the second work... well, I won't say more lest I be thought an ignorant fillystein.
ReplyDeleteYou an ignorant fillystein? Everybody knows you are both cultured and sophisticated.
DeleteThere's not much that creeps me out but that first picture does and I don't know exactly why. Something about those branches and the colours used.
ReplyDeleteA good picture for Halloween then!
DeleteThe picture of the farm really speaks to me, and it is indeed the pattern of the branches that I find most appealing.
ReplyDelete"Die Ideale" is difficult to research - I found many images called "Die Ideale Wirklichkeit" or simply "Composition No." something, but only one website that showed "Die Ideale" as part of "15 MOST FAMOUS PAINTINGS IN EUROPE".
Mondrian (not Modrian) was certainly one of the most talented and influential painters of the last century.
Thanks for spotting my mis-spellings. I just wanted to show a typical example of Mondrian's later work. I gave up when I sought the date of that picture.
DeleteI like both the pieces that you've shown. We had a print of the cubist one on the wall of the living room in the first house my husband and I lived after we were married. We had some very strange looks and comments from people who saw it, but didn't know us well!
ReplyDelete"Oh that couple are really weird! They like modern art. We'll stick with our print of 'The Hay Wain' thank you very much!"
DeleteDid he know the Dutch artist Van Klomp?
ReplyDeleteNo - but he knew White Van Man.
DeleteI like the top painting, modernism never appealed to me. The trouble is we speculate over art but at the same time it is the artist who actually knows why he has produced a certain painting.
ReplyDeleteIt is a form of communication normally intended for witnesses. I suspect that most artists would think they had failed if their works did not communicate.
DeleteI would never have guessed that top painting is a Mondrian. So different from what most of us know as his style. It looks very World War I.
ReplyDeleteI love the last one, I look forward to having more time to paint.
ReplyDeleteIf you had shown me these two paintings and asked me what I thought the relationship between them was, I never would have guessed it was that the same person painted them. In fact- I probably would have said, "Are you sure that second one is a painting?" I do not have the sort of mind that grasps that sort of art.
ReplyDeleteI like both paintings but I'm also surprised they were painted by the same person. The second painting reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass windows.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see the two paintings that were done by the same artist. Well, I know a bit more about Mondrian now. I really didn't know anything before. Thanks, Neil!
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressed by the first painting. I've seen images of the second painting many times and, while I appreciate the brilliant colors, I didn't get the meaning of it until I read the quote by Mondrian in your post. Thanks for that.
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