Mondrian, Piet, << MAWN dree ahn, peet >> (1872-1944), was a Dutch painter. He became known for his extremely simplified geometric style. He developed this style from about 1910 to 1920 and continued to refine it throughout his career. Mondrian influenced modern architecture and commercial design as well as painting.
Mondrian balanced a small number of unequal rectangles of pure primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) as well as black, white, and gray. He arranged the shapes in horizontal and vertical relationships. Typically, Mondrian bounded these rectangles with black edges or lines. However, his last paintings have colored lines and more numerous, smaller rectangles. Almost all his paintings feature smooth surfaces with no visible brushstrokes.
Mondrian called his abstract style neoplasticism. It is often associated with De Stijl (The Style), a magazine Mondrian helped establish. He regarded neoplasticism as an ideal model for the unification of the arts that would provide a morally sound environment of order and beauty.
Mondrian was born in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. He lived primarily in Paris from 1912 to 1938. In 1940, he settled in New York City, where he died.
