Mondrian (Basic Art)

Mondrian (Basic Art)

<div id="description_text_headlines" class="margin-bottom"><strong>Abstract pioneer: Harmonies in red, yellow, and blue</strong></div> <div class="margin-bottom"> </div> <div class="description_text"> <div id="description_text" class="margin-bottom">A key figure in the international avant-garde, <strong>Piet Mondrian </strong>(1872–1944) was at once an extraordinary painter and leading art theoretician whose influence resonate to this day. Coining the term “Neo-plasticism’, he pursued a style of painting composed only of <strong>primary colors</strong> against a <strong>grid of black vertical and horizontal lines </strong>and a <strong>white base background</strong>.<br /><br />Mondrian’s vision was that this essential painting would help to achieve a society in which art as such has no place, but rather exists for the <strong>total realization of “beauty”</strong>. With stints in <strong>Amsterdam, Paris, London, and New York</strong>, Mondrian drew upon the <strong>modern metropolis</strong> and modern music, especially <strong>jazz,</strong> as points of inspiration. In 1917, he co-founded <strong>De Stijl</strong>, originally a publication, and subsequently a circle of practitioners, committed to a strictly geometrical art of horizontals and verticals.<br /><br />With key works and succinct texts, this introductory book presents Mondrian's distinctive and pioneering oeuvre, an abiding inspiration for <strong>fashion, art, architecture, and design</strong>, from White Stripes album covers to Yves Saint Laurent dresses.</div> <div class="margin-bottom"> </div> <div id="series_text" class="margin-bottom"><strong>About the Series:</strong><br />Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series features: <ul> <li>a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance</li> <li>a concise biography</li> <li>approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions</li> </ul> </div> </div>