Composition (No. 1) Gray-Red
About the painting
The roots of 20th-century abstract art can be traced to the late 19th century, when artists began to move away from the direct representation of objects toward the communication of emotional states or moods. In doing so, the formal properties of art—such visual elements as line, color, and composition—assumed a primary role in its production. After World War I, many artists, including Piet Mondrian, believed that abstract art could contribute to a more harmonious society by communicating in a universal, visual language. In the wake of the war's destruction, artists associated with De Stijl (meaning, "the style") in the Netherlands recognized the need for a break with the past, as well as a new aesthetic language to correspond to their utopian vision of the world. In 1917 Mondrian joined the De Stijl movement and began to develop a purely visual language of verticals and horizontals, restricting his compositions to predominantly off-white grounds divided by black rectilinear lines that framed smaller blocks of primary colors.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Particulars
Meanwhile, in the life of Piet Mondrian
The whole life1919–1938
Return to Paris
In 1919 Mondrian left the Netherlands for Paris for the second and last time and at once turned to his studio: to hide its flaws he tacked large single-colour placards to the walls, accented by compositions of smaller coloured paper rectangles. From then on, periods of painting alternated with experiments in regrouping the papers on the walls.
1930s
Double lines, influenced by Marlow Moss
In the 1930s Mondrian began to use thinner and double lines more often, punctuated by a few small coloured forms; the double line, in which he saw a new dynamism, was influenced by the work of his friend and contemporary Marlow Moss.
1934–1935
The “Abstract and Concrete” exhibitions in Britain
Three of Mondrian's paintings were shown in the “Abstract and Concrete” exhibitions at Oxford, London and Liverpool.
