Piet Mondrian

1872-1944 • Dutch • Painter • De Stijl / Neo-Plasticism

"In the future, the tangible embodiment of pictorial values will supplant art. Then we shall no longer need paintings, for we shall live in the midst of realized art." - Mondrian

Following his early (c.1914) work in church decoration, Mondrian's painting progressed, with what almost seems preordained determination, from representational landscapes to straight lines, in the style for which he coined the term NEO-PLASTICISM. His lifelong quest for "pure plastics" (Plasticism) led to a gradual awareness that "(a) in plastic art reality can be expressed only through the equilibrium of dynamic movements of form and color; (b) pure means afford the most effective way of attaining this," as he explained . In translation onto canvas, this came to mean only straight lines, right angles, and primary colors plus black and white. Neo-Plasticism was, for Mondrian, more than a style of painting. It was equally philosophy and religion.