Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter born in in Amsterdam in 1872. After World War II broke out, he moved to New York, helping to turn the city into the universal home of art. He died there a just few years later, in 1944.

His style is known as Geometric Abstract, or Neo-Plasticism. The painter combined primary colours such as red, blue and yellow, with non-colour, that is to say, black and white. He placed them inside geometric shapes such as rectangles, squares and lines, which succeed each other ad infinitum, with no beginning and no end. Just like Moorish decoration, they express the divine quality of infinity.

Mondrian had a number of religious experiences during his life and had even been a Protestant pastor at one point. This spiritual influence is very much present in his work: his crossed lines stand for Christian crosses.

In New York, his technique changed, and the black lines were replaced by coloured adhesive tapes, which he could move around until he decided upon the combination he was after, later replacing them with painted lines of colour. This unfinished work still contains some of the tapes. His designs influenced all kinds of materials throughout the 20th century - fabrics, décor, and industrial items.

(c) (R) 2013, MUSMon com S.L.
Text (a) Catalina Serrano Romero

Photo: Portrait of Piet Mondriaan, 1924 (a) Source: Wikipedia (image in public domain because its copyright has expired)