Picture of the day

Trees in Blossom. / Bloeiende bomen. 1912. Oil on canvas.65 x 75 cm. The Judith Rothschild Foundation, New York, NY, USA.

Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch Abstract painter of the first half of the 20th Century. A contemporary and disciple of the famous cubists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Mondrian challenged the definition of art itself, working with simple lines, right angles, correct geometric figures and pure, primary colors. His work attained a level of abstraction far beyond that of even his most progressive colleagues.

His miserable childhood in Amersfoort and unstable life at home made the future artist introspective, cynical and bitter. His father taught him how to draw at a young age and art became for Mondrian a way to escape day-to-day reality and immerse himself in the world of his imagination.

In 1892, the painter expressed his wish to receive a formal education in art, and his father helped him move to Amsterdam and enroll in the State Academy of Art (Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunst), through his religious acquaintances.

In 1911, Mondrian attended the exhibition of Georges Braque. The work of the French Cubist impressed the Dutch painter greatly, as it paralleled much of what he had been experimenting with on his own, and Mondrian resolved to visit Paris, fascinated by the artistic innovations being introduced there.

However, arriving there in the winter of the same year, the artist made no attempt to contact any of the French modernists. Though he followed the development of their art and theory, he had no wish to enter their circles. Instead, Mondrian rented a small studio and went on with his experimentation in private. It is possible that the artist, with his provincial, lower-class origins felt self-conscious about approaching the crème de la crème of contemporary French art.

There is evidence that the artist had been growing disillusioned with the church and religion in general prior to his arrival in Paris. In any case, this was when he broke with it formally. At the same time, he changed his name to the more French-sounding Piet Mondrian, removing the double "aa" from his surname and shortening his first name to just "Piet."

During this period, the artist adopted the bold, black Cubist grid as the foundation of his compositions. Unlike Braque and Picasso, however, who worked mostly with people and still-lifes, Mondrian applied the Cubist ideas to landscapes and cityscapes. Works of this period in the painter's life include Apple Tree in Flower (1912), Trees in Blossom (1912), Tableau III (1914) and Composition No. 10: Pier and Ocean (1915).

One can see the Picture here.

One can read about him here.