Abstract Representation

1

Abstract Representation

Piet Mondrian

2

Enduring UnderstandingStudents will understand;abstract explorations brought about new energies and dimensions in artistic

creation.

3

OverarchingHow has abstraction affected our way of viewing art? What can abstraction achieve that realistic art cannot?TopicalWhat relationship does man have with nature?How is it expressed in Mondrian’s art?

Essential Questions

4

5W1H

WhereNetherlands

WhichDe Stijl

Neo-Plasticism

When1872 - 1944

WhatGeometric Abstraction

WhyInfluence

HowOil Painting

Piet Mondrian

5

Who- Piet Mondrian1872: 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 intothe Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam.

1893: Supports himself by making copies of portraits and landscapes atthe 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

When1914: World War I.1929: The Great Depression.

1939: World War II.1918-30: Jazz Age.

7

WhereNetherlands• 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

WhichDe 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

WhichDe Stijl- as a Movement

Counter-Composition VI, 1925by Theo van Doesburg

Oil on canvas, 69 x 69.1 cmTate Gallery, UK

Composition, 1918by Bart van der Leck

Oil on canvas, 73.9 x 63.2 cmTate Gallery, UK

Interrelation of Volumes, 1919by Geroges Vantongerloo

Sandstone, 22.5 x 13.7 x 13.7 cm

Tate Gallery, UK

10

WhichNeo-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

WhatSubject Matter1872- 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

WhatTheme• 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. That’s 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

WhatI 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

WhatWhat is TheosophyIt 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

WhatWhat 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.

• It’s 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. 1895Watercolour, 49 x 66 cm

Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague

17

What- 1872 - 1909

On the Lappenbrink, c. 1899Gouache, 108 x 86 cm

Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague

18

What- 1872 - 1909

Woods, 1898/1900Gouache, 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 cmHaags Gemeentemuseum, The

Hague

20

What- 1872 - 1909

Sun, Church in Zeeland, Zoutelande Church Façade,

1909Oil on canvases, 118.5 x 90

cmTate Gallery, UK

This is a result of a visit to the Zeeland region of the Dutch east coast. It featuresa 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.

21

What- 1909-12

The Red Tree, c. 1909Oil on canvas, 37.4 x 39 inches

Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague

22

What- 1909-12

Gray Tree, 1911Oil on canvas, 78.5 x 107.5 cm

Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague

23

What- 1909-12

Apple Tree in Flower by Piet Mondrian, 1912Oil on canvas, 78 x 106 cm

Gemeentemuseum, The Hague

24

From naturalism to stylization to abstraction

25

What- 1909-12

Trees in Blossom, 1912Oil 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

The Tree, c.1913Oil on canvas, 100.2 x 67.2

cmTate Gallery, UK

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.

28

What- 1909-12

Still Life with Gingerpot I, 1911-12Oil 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, 1913Oil on canvas, 104.4 x 113.6 cmGuggenheim Museum, New York

31

What- 1912 - 1914

Composition 8, 1914Oil on canvas, 94.4 x 55.6 cm

Guggenheim Museum, New York

32

What- 1914 - 1919

Ocean 5, 1914Charcoal and gouache on wood-pulp, wove paper glued to Homosote panel,

94.4 x 55.6 cmGuggenheim Museum, New York

33

What- 1914 - 1919

Composition, 1916Oil on canvas, 119 x 75.1 cmThe Solomon R. Guggebheim

Museum, New York

34

What- 1914 - 1919

Composition Chequerboard, Dark Colours, 1919Oil on canvas, 84 x 102 cm

Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague

35

What- 1919 - 1938

Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue 1921Oil 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 cmPrivate 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 , 1929Oil on canvas, 78.2 x 78.2 cmYale University Art Gallery,

39

What- 1919 - 1938

This is the most extreme of his minimalist works.

Lozenge with Two Lines and Blue, 1926Oil on canvas, 61.1 x 61.1 cmPhiladelphia Museum of Art

40

What- 1938 - 1944

Composition No. III Blanc-Jaune , 1935-42Oil on canvas, 101 x 51 cm

Christie’s, New York

41

What- 1938 - 1944

Composition No. 10, 1939-42Oil on canvas, 80 x 73 cm

Private Collection

42

What- 1938 - 1944

Place de la Concorde, 1938-43Oil on canvas, 93.98 x 94.46 cm

Dallas Museum of Art, US

43

What- 1938 - 1944

New York City I, 1941-2Oil 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, 1942-44Oil on canvas, 119 x 115 cm

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany.

45

What- 1938 - 1944

Broadway Boogie Woogie, 1942-3Oil on canvas, 127 x 127 cm

MoMA, New York

46

What- Broadway Boogie Woogie• New York city’s architecture, American jazz, particularly boogie–woogie

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.

• Mondrian’s 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/File:Broadway_theatres_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• Modrian’s 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 InfluencesTheosophy• 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). She’s a Russian

• See under “What” for its fundamental beliefs.

51

HowMode 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

How1912 – 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

How1914 – 1919• In the year 1913, Mondrian’s 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 Leck’s 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

How1919 – 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 Mondrian’s works.

55

How1919 – 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

How1938 – 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.