This document provides biographical information about the artist Piet Mondrian and his abstract, geometric style of painting which featured primary colors separated by thick, horizontal and vertical black lines. It began with him painting realistic landscapes but evolved into non-representational compositions dominated by rectangles and squares in red, yellow and blue. The text also outlines an exercise for students to create their own artwork in Mondrian's style using construction paper, glue, rulers and markers to arrange geometric shapes and primary colors separated by straight lines.

1. Piet
Mondrian
Mrs. Hurd’s Craft Class

2. Amersfoort –
Netherlands (1872)
Manhattan –
United States (1944)
He was 71 years old.

3. • Piet Mondrian began as an artist
by painting realistic landscapes.

4. It's hard to imagine that he began
as a landscape painter and was
influenced by Fauvism, Symbolism,
and Cubism on his way to his
characteristic abstractions.
• "In order to survive, Mondrian had been a painter of flowers on porcelain
for practically his whole life. Perhaps this explains his hatred of nature. ...
[Mondrian] suppressed curves and all greens because they reminded him
of trees, which he loathed. ... In 1924 the artist broke away from Theo van
Doesburg, who ... maintained that the slanted line at a 45-degree incline
better corresponded to the dynamism of modern man." (Art of Our
Century, ed Jean-Louis Ferrier, page 429.)

5. Piet Mondrian developed an
abstract simplified style which
combined squares and rectangles
using only primary colors
separated by black lines.

6. In his paintings there are
GEOMETRIC SHAPES
RECTANGLES
SQUARES

7. BOLD BLACK LINES
HORIZONTAL VERTICAL
Thick & Thin Lines

8. PRIMARY COLOURS
RED
YELLOW
BLUE

9. Animated Shorts
Boogie Woogie
His life in animation
Jazzy
Vimeo

18. Exercise
Create artwork in the style of Piet Mondrian
Material
White paper & Sketchbook
Scissors
Glue
Pencil & Eraser
Construction paper
in primary colors (yellow, blue and red)
Ruler
Sharpie

19. Example
Criteria
All lines were made with a ruler
Crisp & Clean Lines
No smudges
No Extra glue at edges of papers
No visible Pencil Lines
Signed Bottom Right
Good use of Space
Used time wisely in class

20. Process
1. Practice in sketchbook.
Create 3 thumbnail sketches.
2. Using the best sketch as a reference, cut out
pieces of construction paper in priamary
colors that match the shapes of your sketch.
3. Glue them down with Elmer's white glue and
create colourful squares and rectangles.
4. Some of the squares and rectangles should be
white.
5. Finally, trace all the lines with a black marker.

21. Let’s
work!