Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch Abstract painter of the first half of the 20th Century. A contemporary and disciple of the famous cubists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Mondrian challenged the definition of art itself, working with simple lines, right angles, correct geometric figures and pure, primary colors. His work attained a level of abstraction far beyond that of even his most progressive colleagues. The painter was born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, in 1872, in Amersfoort, a small town in central Holland. Though once prosperous, by the end of the 19th Century, most of the population lived in relative property, and the town was a bastion of religious fanaticism. Mondrian's father, head teacher at the local primary school was a devout Protestant, and often neglected his family in favor of service to the church and charity.
c.1899. Gouache. 108 x 86 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
c.1892-95. Black chalk on paper. 57 x 44.5 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
c.1895. Watercolor. 49 x 66 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
1896/97. Illustration from D.P.Rossouw, Mede-erfgenamen van Christus, Amsterdam.
1898-99. Watercolor. 52 x 63.5 cm. Private collection.
1898. Gouache. 54.4 x 78.7 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
1898-1900. Gouache. 45.5 x 57 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
c.1900. Oil on canvas, mounted on stone. 50.4 x 39.7 cm. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, USA.
Oil on canvas. 53 x 44 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
1906/07. Oil on canvas. 71 x 110.5 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
c.1907/08. Oil on canvas. 35 x 50.2 cm. Private collection.
1907-08. Oil on canvas. 79 x 92.5 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
1907. Watercolor. 30.5 x 23 cm. The Morgan Library and Museum, New York, NY, USA.
1908. Oil on canvas. 114 x 87 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
1908. Oil on canvas. 128 x 158 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
c.1908. Watercolor. 33.9 x 23.9. Sidney Janis Collection, New York, NY, USA.
1908-10. Charcoal on paper. 36.4 x 24.8 cm. Private collection.
1908. Watercolor and ink on paper. 72.5 x 47.5 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
c.1909. Oil on canvas. 27 3/8" x 39". Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
1909/10. Oil on card. 33 x 46 cm. Gemeentemuseum, the Hague, Netherlands.
Mondrian: On the Humanity of Abstract Painting by Meyer Schapiro. George Braziller, 1995.
Mondrian by John Milner. Phaidon Press, 1995.
Complete Mondrian by Marty Bax. Lund Humphries Publishers, 2002.
Mondrian: The Transatlantic Paintings by Harry Cooper, Ron Spronk. Huam, 2001
Mondrian: The Art of Destruction by Carel Blotkamp. Reaktion Books, 2004.
Piet Mondrian by Joop M. Joosten. Harry N. Abrams, 1996.