Piet Mondrian

a. personality
He was a perfectionist that was not satisfied for long. He would work himself to
exhaustion and when working for time for little else. He kept to himself, but was not a
complete recluse and had a few close friends. He was worried about his image and
tried to stay morally above others. On the other hand I found that he was a free spirit
and an amazing dancer, the two personalities seem like they would belong to two
different people. He was a very complicated man.
b. temperament
He was described as cool, even cutting. Seemed to be humble compared to
other artists of that time, but still knew his own greatness. I could not find anything that
led me to believe he was ill tempered, he was a little hard on himself and other painters
but that was due to his perfectionist attitude.
c. family life
He was born in central Holland as Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, Jr. the second of
five children. Art was encouraged in his household, his dad was a teacher and an artist.
His father taught him to draw and his uncle, Fritz Mondriaan taught him how to paint. He

never married, was too busy with his work. His friends and acquaintances treated him
with reverence, protectiveness and a little pity.
d. time period.
Mondrian was born in 1872 and died in 1944.

Describe one work of art that you feel was the most significant piece your artist
produced and in your own words explain why.
Description of painting: Broadway Boogie-Woogie (1942-43)
This was a multi-colored grid with blocks of color it was done in all primary colors.
Why:
I feel like this is the piece of art that he was most fond of. It was created
after he finally made it to America, which was something that he had been
wanting to do for 30ish years. It was representing the Manhattan city streets
and the boogie woogie music that he loved. The sad part of this was that he
was no longer happy with all of the yellow when it was in the museum, he
liked the way it looked better in his small studio so he began another work
(Victory Boogie Woogie) to correct this and he died before it was finished.
Describe what emotions you feel this painting portrays and explain how the artist
used the Principles and Elements of Design to convey these feelings.

Describe your emotions:

It is busy and cheery, almost exciting. I cant decide what I should look at
first, I find myself wanting to look at it all at once, but then get distracted.
Describe the Principles and Elements used:
The use of straight lines and blocks give you the feeling of movement, the
addition of the colors creates a vibrant exciting feeling.
Describe your artists style:
Abstract- He first adopted Cubism, using basic forms and mostly gray and
yellow/brown colors but soon after wished to stress the flatness of the surface. Next as
a founder of the Dutch Modern Movement De Stijl the style that presented the idea of
total abstraction. He transitioned this into what he named Neo-Plasticism using basic
achromatic and primary colors towards the end of his career. His goal was to represent
complete, pure harmony, which he would express through the balance and tension of
form and color in his paintings.
You are required to use at least 3 references which you will need to cite in your
report. They are as follows:
A. Book from a physical library
Calosse, Jp. A. Piet Mondrian. [New York]: Parkstone International,
2004. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 8 Sept. 2015.

B. One online website

"Piet Mondrian." - WikiArt.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015.
C. The following Art Data Base. http://www.ahdb.org/
"Piet Mondrian Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story.
Ahdb.org, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015.