A Study of De Stijl and the Piet Mondrian style of painting

Over the years I have come across a number of De Stijl style painting in various galleries, usually by Piet Mondrian and although I understand that as an art movement the De Stijl group has an important part to play in modern abstract painting, I have never fully appreciated or gained from my exposure to this style of painting. It just seams to lack feeling or passion as it dose not provoke a reaction in me.

The De Stijl art movement developed during the first world war, Dutch artists isolated from the rest of the art world due to the Neutrality of the Netherlands during this conflict began exploring New art and founded the De Stijl art movement.  Artist such as Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg and Bart van der Leck all experimented with this style for several years.  Mondrian named the movement (Neo-Plasticism) However today we commonly refer to this artistic technique as De Stijl, meaning “The Style” which was the name of the journal published by Doesburg about Neo-Plasticism. The De Stijl philosophy proposed total simplicity and abstraction using only straight horizontal and vertical lines and limiting themselves to the primary colours, red, blue and yellow and  three primary values of black, white or grey.










A painting in the style De Stijl
#30 acrylic paint on paper
9 x 9 inches approx







As part of my ongoing study into art and the different ways to make art I added De Stijl to my list, partly as a method of discovery and understanding this particular artistic group but also to expand my own visual vocabulary and although as you can see in this piece I did not fully follow the principals of the De Stijl, I still feel that I gained a great deal from this painting.  I freely admit that I am not totally happy with the colours mixes that I made or the level of care in its execution as some of the lines are not as strait or even as they could (should) be which I feel lets down the panting in terms of composition it is however a good start and has proven that further work in this area will be of huge value.

In conducting my research I discovered a number of sources that threw a huge amount of light into the De Stijl art movement and the lives of its principal artist such as Piet Mondrian which I found very helpful and have included these links for your interest which I am certain you will find of great value.

Mondrian / Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Empty Easel The De Stijl Art Movement

The tate.org

Making better modern art

Making abstract and modern art better is as much about understanding the deeper meanings and concepts that modern art has to offers us. Abstract painting or sculpture is often a question of exploring experiences, ideas and notions rather than realities which make painting the abstract far more versatile and volatile.

This piece was one of the studies that I conducted in to the painting style made famous by the abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollack. I added the black acrylic paint with a coffee stirrer as I had in the previous piece However this time I had applied an even colour of yellow ochre to the surface first but I was disappointed with the overall effect as it just did not have the energy and excitement I was looking for even after I added  some white. It still felt flat and lifeless.

After some consideration I made what I feel is a bold decision for myself by cutting or puncturing the painting. As an artist I think ( like many artists ) the very notion of damaging the painting surface itself in such a dramatic way seems almost appalling, However when we consider that the very act of painting is in itself an act of destruction in a sense, it did make the decision easier to live with at a personal level.  

I have over the years seen a number of painting that have been damaged by the artists, including a number of pieces by Lucio Fotane at the Tate some time ago, which I have to admit that I did not fully understand at the time and for this reason I had made Spatial concept number 42 on my list of 50 interesting painting methods to explore, as an artist I wonted to overcome my own objections and develop a better understanding Spatialism.

 #27 acrylic paint on paper 9 x 9 inches approx
paint splattered, dripped and applied to paper with punctures

What is Spatial concept ?

The conceptual artist Lucio Fontana from Argentina began cutting, puncturing, slashing and scratching the picture surface or plane in the late 1940’s and early 1950‘s.   In these pieces he described as “Spatial concept” and said  “I have constructed, not destroyed “ despite the apparent violence that one might expect from such an act. However Fontana sought to break away from the easel and paint creating art for a “new age” that showed the "real space of the world," as he perceived it.

The word Spatial is derived from the Latin word “spatial,” meaning “space” and  is used to describe things relating to size and position rather than to time. Lucio Fontana  practiced style of perforations, cuts and scratches to the picture allowed him as an artist to explore the three-dimensional rather than the just two-dimensional surface of a painting in a deliberate and considered way.

The spatial art  movement draws on aspects of the Dada, Tachism and Concrete art movements from the 1920’s and 1940’s and although not fully an abstract expressionist art movement it can be conceded to be related as it developed at about the same time, however it differs in a number of ways as spatial art and rejects the paint and easel that abstract expressionist art embraces but instead seeks to capture both movement and time within the act of the work itself. The very act of cutting the canvas frees the artist and pushes the canvas itself into the space of reality.

This was my first foray into this particular aspect of modern conceptual art and despite my deep initial uncertainties I was both surprised and delighted with the effect and the wealth of understanding that such a simple act as cutting the painting surface allowed me. I personally feel that the insight gained from this specific and expressive artistic technique will led me to making better modern art.

I have included some of the links that I used in researching this article which thought might be a good starting point should you wish to learn more about  Spatial concept or modern abstraction in art.  Thank you for leaving your valued comment which are always appreciated

Wikipedia/Spatialisam
The Tate.org
MOMA.org
Blurtit.com