pietmondrian.it

a short virtual exhibition

Copyright 1989-2023 Michael (Michele) Sciam All Rights Reserved

1

1905-06

3

1905-06

4

1907

5

1907-08

6

1909

7

1909

8

1909

9

1910

10

1908-10

11

1912

12

13

1913

14

1915

15

1916

16

1917

17

1920

18

1921

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1930

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1930

21

1933

22

1942

This page presents a quick visual excursus on the transition from the early naturalist paintings to the latest abstract compositions;
a path that in reality took shape over the course of forty-five years through no less than six hundred works.

Clicking on the images opens a larger format. Clicking on the text in bold opens a window of deepening.

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Mondrian began his activity painting watercolors, gouaches and oils in the traditional style of Dutch painting (1 - 2 - 3 - 4).

Around 1907 the painter begins to use colors with expressionist tones (5 - 6 - 7).
At the same time the landscapes begin to emerge as a horizontal extension (4 - 6 - 8)
while in other works of the same period takes shape a vertical space
highlighted by the silhouettes of mills, lighthouses and church towers (5 - 7 - 9).

The horizontal extension of nature and the vertical development of human constructions are ideally united in the semblance of a tree (10 - 11) which then evolves in a cubist sense (12).

The interaction between horizontals and verticals multiplies and thickens, generating a complex and changing space (12) which, in the center of two new compositions, reaches a more stable and permanent equilibrium first in a rectangle (13) and then in a square (14).

The square and the "quasi-squares"
that generated in 14 open up to color (15),
and assume precise and more consistent
forms in new paintings (16 - 17).

In all subsequent works we always find one or more square proportions (18 to 22).
Squares that emerge among divergent measures, proportions and colors that generate a space in becoming while the square parameter signals a relative tendency towards stability.
In a completely new form, we find in these works the dialectic between multiple and one, uncertain space and more certain space, which we observed in 14.

Each square appears different according to the context in which it is generated. Every single component of these compositions is different from the others, but they all contribute to an asymmetrical and dynamic compensation between the parts that finally generate a harmonic whole. In neoplastic space, the widest diversity creates a dynamic unity.
Think here, just for a moment, of the philosophical and social implications of such a vision.

On the page that explains Mondrian's entire work, you can review these and other works in greater detail, exploring their existential and spiritual content.