Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter known for developing the abstract art movement called De Stijl or Neo-Plasticism. He began painting realistic landscapes but later adopted a geometric abstract style using only horizontal and vertical black lines and the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. This simplified style influenced not only painting but also architecture and design. Mondrian aimed to represent universal order and balance through his use of basic elements of composition.

1. PIET
MONDRIAN
PAINTER OF TINY SQUARES - USING PRIMARY COLOURS
© Bernard E. Richardson | 2023
By Bernard E. Richardson
Master Teacher & Visual Arts Educator

2. Piet Mondrian
• Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter.
• He was born in 1872 in Netherlands and died in 1944 in
New York, USA.
• He was introduced to Art by his Father Pieter and Uncle
Fritz at an early age.
• He was an important painter of modern abstract art in the
20th Century.
• He was famous for making paintings using geometric
shapes, lines and the primary colours.

3. Piet Mondrian
• Piet Mondrian used these three elements in his artwork:
a. Geometric shapes (squares and rectangles)
b. Lines – horizontal and vertical
c. Colour – three primary colours:
RED, YELLOW & BLUE

4. Piet Mondrian
• He began painting realistic landscapes.
• He painted the country side near where he lived.
‘Ooztzijdse Mill along the River Gein by
Moonlight’, Oil on canvas, 1903
Farm Building with Bridge, oil on canvas, c. 1899

5. Piet Mondrian
• After many years of painting realistic paintings he
discovered Cubism in 1911. he began to use geometric
shapes in most of his paintings.
• In 1912 he went to Paris and saw an exhibition with works
from Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. He became
interested in their style.
• He decided to change the way he painted. He decided to
explore how colour and line worked together.
• He developed his own style of Abstract art – created a
modern Abstract art movement called “DE STIJL” or “THE
STYLE”.

6. Piet Mondrian
• Is a modern art movement developed in the Netherlands
from 1917 to 1931.
• Also called NEO PLASTICISM
(the name given to the abstract paintings he created using
horizontal and vertical lines and primary colours).
DE STIJL
• He used the simplest combination
of horizontal and vertical lines and
primary colours.
• He later added black, white and
grey along with the primary
colours.

7. Piet Mondrian Art
Composition A
Quadro n˚2
Quadro n˚2

8. Piet Mondrian
• De Stijl influenced Painting, Decorative Arts (including
furniture Design, Typography and Architecture.
DE STIJL
Red and Blue Chair
Gerrit Rietveld (1888–1964)
Maison Particuliére
Theo van Doesburg and Cornelis van
Eesteren’s (1923)
Interior design inspired by The De Stijl artist
Piet Mondrian

9. Piet Mondrian
Yves St Laurent dress inspired by the
abstract paintings of the De Stijl artist Piet
Mondrian Sneaker design inspired by The De Stijl
artist Piet Mondrian

10. Piet Mondrian
Poster design inspired by The De Stijl
artist Piet Mondrian
Typography design inspired by The
De Stijl artist Piet Mondrian

11. Image Courtesies
• https://www.google.com/search?q=piet+mondrian+portrait&sca_esv=578562426&tbm
=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwiO9szevqOCAxWHGlkFHeRFA_AQ_AUo
AXoECAMQAw&biw=1366&bih=643&dpr=1#imgrc=pLl8p4Mq9dqv7M
• https://boldbrush.com/blog/169887/the-early-work-of-piet-mondrian
• https://www.1stdibs.com/designs/gerrit-rietveld-red-and-blue-chair/
• http://architecture-history.org/schools/DE%20STIJL.html
• https://joshuabrunzell.wordpress.com/2019/01/16/de-stijl/
• https://may6delights.com/page/7/
• https://danielcaruanalupi2.blogspot.com/2013/11/de-stijl.html
• https://stock.adobe.com/search?k=%22de+stijl%22