Mondrian

Try to Google the thing you’re looking for, accompanied by the word “Mondrian”. Probably you’ll find that your thing has already been shaped in the unmistakable grid-based style, known all over the planet.

When World War I ended in 1918, Piet Mondrian returned to France where he would remain until 1938. Immersed in the crucible of artistic innovation that was post-war Paris, he flourished in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom that enabled him to embrace an art of pure abstraction for the rest of his life. He began producing grid-based paintings in late 1919, and in 1920, the style for which he came to be renowned began to appear. In the early paintings of this style the lines delineating the rectangular forms are relatively thin, and they are gray, not black. The lines also tend to fade as they approach the edge of the painting, rather than stopping abruptly. The forms themselves, smaller and more numerous than in later paintings, are filled with primary colors, black, or gray, and nearly all of them are colored; only a few are left white.

During late 1920 and 1921, Mondrian’s paintings arrive at what is to casual observers their definitive and mature form. Thick black lines now separate the forms, which are larger and fewer in number, and more of the forms are left white. This was not the culmination of his artistic evolution, however. Although the refinements became subtler, Mondrian’s work continued to evolve during his years in Paris.

Among the world’s most famous tributes to this amazing style, the 1965 Mondrian collection of Yves Saint Laurent, or the Partridge Family bus from the 1970s American musical sitcom, starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy.

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