Mondrian's Pictorial Language

Piet Mondrian's artworks have a very distinctive pictorial language.

His works can be recognized immediately: rectangle shapes, thick vertical and horizontal lines, primary colors (red, yellow, blue), and achromatic black, gray, white. 

Composition with large red plane, yellow, black, grey and blue,
Piet Mondrian, 1921, oil on canvas 

Because of the uniqueness of his work, Mondrian has a huge impact on designers. We can find Mondrian's color blocks not only in architectures, but also furniture and fashions, even foods. Just check out pastry chef Caitlin Freeman's Mondrian cake. 

At first glance, Mondrian's most famous artworks look simple. But if consider the relationship of his shapes, lines, colors, that's actually quite complicated. A typical Mondrian painting would look both dynamic and harmonious at the same time. Mondrian obviously pursuits an asymmetrical balance. He once said: "Plastic art affirms that equilibrium can only be established through the balance of unequal but equivalent oppositions." 

As we learn from art history, Mondrian's art style evolved step by step, from realistic to abstract, from complex to simple. Mondrian once said: "Pure abstract art becomes completely emancipated, free of naturalistic appearances." 

Avond (Evening): The red tree, 1910

Gray Tree, 1911

Composition No. 10: Pier and Ocean, 1915

Mondrian's works were not just abstract, but formed a set of pictorial language, followed a very strict grammar. For example, he would only use straight lines at right angle, no circle, no curve, no diagonal lines. 

Mondrian's partner, De Stijil movement cofounder Theo van Doesburg started to use diagonal in his work in 1923, and it turned out this was a huge difference in artistic believes between these two, so much so that the two finally parted their ways. Mondrian maintained his art practices in Neo-Platicism while van Doesburg went on establishing a new art movement called Elementarism.

For Mondrian, the pictorial language of his Neo-Platicism has philosophical foundation and spiritual implication. He said: "All relations are dominated by a single primordial relations, which is defined by the opposition of the two extremes."

He also said: "Vertical and horizontal lines are the expression of two opposing forces ... They exist everywhere and dominate everything; their reciprocal action constitutes 'life'."

References:

- Dr. Stephanie Chadwick, "Mondrian, Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow," in Smarthistory, April 27, 2016, accessed June 19, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/mondrian-composition-ii-in-red-blue-and-yellow/.
- The Art Story: Neo-Plasticism 
- The Art Story: Piet Mondrian 

Birds on Abstract Art

Realistic birds on abstract Modern art background.

I want to design a group of images with realistic arts and abstract arts mingled together. 

I drew a group of birds in flat color with Adobe Illustrator, and try to put them on different styles of abstract Modern Arts. 

Dove on Cubism style art

Imagine a bird flies in a big city. One minute it stands on a curb at street level, next minute it lands on a building rooftop. The bird's viewpoints keep changing. 

Using multiple vantage points to depict a scene is one of the major characteristics of Cubism art. For my series of Birds on Abstract Art, I think it's a perfect match between a city dove and Cubism style art. I particularly use Juan Gris (1887-1927)'s paintings as my references.

Robin on Kandinsky style art

American robin is one of our favorite songbirds. Robins not only call, but sing (Check The Cornell Lab website for robin's musical songs). 

The songs of robin remind me of Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)'s abstract arts. Among Modern abstract painters, Kandinsky is famous for linking his works with music. 

Cardinal on Mondrian style art

Male Northern cardinal is unique in its bright red body color. The almost pure primary color reminds me of Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). 

Of course Mondrian's Neo-Plasticism art has a set of strict rules, including use only straight lines, only horizontal and vertical lines, only primary colors and white, black, and gray.  

When I do this piece, I explored the ways of bending these rules while still maintaining the "Mondrian-ness". 

Sparrow on Matisse cutout style art

House Sparrow is quite plain with its muted color. But it's a common sight in cities and very lively. I put a sparrow in contrast with Henri Matisse (1869-1954) style cut-out arts, which is very colorful.