Mondrian's Grid Paintings

Paper Summary:

The paper supports the thesis that Piet Mondrian's grid paintings represent the struggle between man's need for conformity in the industrial age and his ageless quest for individuality. The paper includes photos of many of Mondrian's paintings and analyzes how they convey the internal conflict between conformity and individuality. The paper also discusses how Mondrian's grid paintings lend a sense of the struggle to keep one's sense of spirituality in a world that continually undermines one's ability to do so.

Outline:
The Emergence of the Grid and the progress of Post-modern Society
The Internal Conflict between Conformity and Individuality
Mondrian and the Symbolic Emergence of the Machine

From the Paper:

"Piet carried the abstract art form to an extreme through simplification and serialization of basic shapes. He used simple hues of primary colors to emphasize the simplicity of his work. Broken black lines to emphasize the serial nature of the work. Black lines act as a type of border, or fence, to contain the vibrant, yet simple colors. Mondrian expressed concern that art should not confine itself to representation of the real, but that it should expand into the unknown realms . Mondrian created a sense of the surreal through using work that expanded the mind through representation of nothing."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alley, R. Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, pp.532-3
• Bandur, M. AESTHETICS OF TOTAL SERIALISM: Contemporary Research from Music to Architecture. Chronicle Books. May 2001.
• Florida International University. (FIU). Mondrian Chronos. 2003. < http://www.fiu.edu/~andiaa/cg2/chronos.html > Accessed May 1, 2008.

More papers on Mondrian's Grid Paintings:

• Essay # 26109 : "The Grid and the Line in Modern Art"
• Essay # 26119 : "Piet Mondrian and his Artistic Works"

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