Mondrian, Piet

Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) was a Dutch painter and a pioneering figure in twentieth-century abstract art. His early landscapes gave way to experiments with brighter color and Cubism, eventually leading to the geometric compositions for which he is best known. Associated with De Stijl, Mondrian developed Neo-Plasticism, an approach that sought harmony through horizontal and vertical lines, areas of primary color, and white, black and gray.

Behind the apparent simplicity of these paintings lies a careful balance of proportion, rhythm and space. Mondrian used relationships between lines and colors to express a universal order rather than depict the visible world. After moving to New York in 1940, the city’s energy and jazz helped inspire a livelier rhythm in his later work. His distinctive visual language made him one of modern art’s most influential painters.