Mondriaan exhibition shows roots of abstract style
Mondriaan exhibition shows roots of abstract style
By Kristin Kranenberg [10pt ML]
AMSTERDAM (Reuter): Piet Mondriaan's paintings of red, yellow and blue blocks created a revolution in modern art in the 1920s and are still copied around the world on posters, mugs, T-shirts and even shampoo bottles.
For those who have always wondered where his instantly recognizable abstract rectangles came from, an exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of his death has found some clues.
It shows that, before adopting his characteristic style, the Dutch painter honed his skills by picturing his home country's landscape.
More than 60 paintings are on show, mostly of Amsterdam industrial sites and rural surroundings between the years 1892 and 1912 when Mondriaan lived in the Dutch capital.
Mondriaan arrived there at the age of 20 to study at the state academy of arts and left 20 years later to live in London, Paris and New York.
The organizers of the exhibition have become convinced that Mondriaan's Amsterdam output foreshadows features of his later abstract work.
By setting clearly-delineated farm houses and boats against a simple background he gave the impression of focus on form and geometry rather than seeking the picturesque.
"Around 1900 Mondriaan is seeking a way not only to display but also a clear ordering in his painting," says Boudewijn Bakker, head of the exhibition organizers.
"The conclusion seems justified that there is a link from the earlier to the later work," he adds.
Mondriaan especially favored two rivers in the Amsterdam area, the Amstel and the Gein.
Often a river bank neatly divides a picture in two, while the water accurately reflects what is seen ashore.
For American art historian Robert Welsh, the reflection of a gable-roofed house in House at the Gein from 1900 resembles the diamond form seen in later abstract Mondriaan works.
Consistent
Welsh, who helped set up the exhibition, spent years making an inventory of Mondriaan's Amsterdam paintings and drawings. More than 600 of these have survived.
"His development has been very consistent. I have not fully figured out yet if he was conscious of this or not," he says.
Mondriaan often portrayed the same object several times.
The exhibition shows two paintings of a wax candle plant made around 1900. And two of the four versions Mondriaan is known to have made of a colossal dredger are on display.
Gradually Mondriaan began experimenting with bright colors and styles such as pointillism. In 1908 he painted The Mill near Abcoude in colorful little dots.
"I realized nature's colors cannot be reproduced on the canvas. Instinctively I felt I had to find a new way of painting to express nature's beauty," Mondriaan was quoted as saying.
Another venture in form was seen with Tiger-Lily and Amaryllis (both 1910), each magnificent flower pictured against a blue background.
In all the paintings on display, Bakker says he has counted only three living creatures -- one person and two cows.
"One often gets the impression that he would rather wait until everybody had gone home or until Sunday morning," he says.
Half of the pictures at the exhibition, which lasts until May 15, are from private collections.
The exhibition also aims to shed more light on Mondriaan's social life in Amsterdam, which had been shrouded by his solitary reputation and a lack of documentary evidence.
"Mondriaan never spoke about the past. He threw away all letters and lived for the future," Bakker said.
The exhibition is housed in a former town hall, set on the bank of Mondriaan's favorite Amstel river.
Other events in the Dutch Mondriaan year include an exhibition this autumn on Bart van der Leck (1876-1958). Van der Leck, like Mondriaan, was a member of De Stijl artistic group which focused on austerity of expression.
The final part of the Mondriaan commemoration is a comprehensive exhibition of the painter's works in the Hague's municipal museum from December. From April 1995 it will travel to the United States, to the National Gallery of Art in Washington and New York's Museum of Modern Art.