Piet Mondrian
"Squares? I see no squares in my pictures." -Piet Mondrian
Composition with Gray and Light Brown
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Piet Mondrian avoided any suggestion of reproducing the material world. Instead using horizontal and vertical black lines that outline blocks of pure white, red, blue or yellow, he expressed his conception of ultimate harmony and equilibrium. His style, and its underlying artistic principles, he called neoplasticism.
Neoplasticism- a form of art which uses verticals and horizontals to express nature and logic
Composition in Blue-B
This painting was painted in 1917 and is now in the Kroller-Muller Museum in Holland. It is actually a picture of the sky. Mondrian wanted each object to be separate, yet a prominent part in the whole unit. Some, but not all of the shapes, in this piece are golden rectangles.
Composition in Red, Yellow and Blue
This piece was painted in 1942, and is now in London. It is meant to show the equilibrium of nature in something man made. The proportions of the golden ratio can be seen in many of the rectangles.
New York City
This painting was inspired by Mondrian's visit to New York. The geometric shapes are less rigid and more complex, yet still retain the proportions of the golden ratio.
Go back to the Art and the Golden Ratio page
Go back to the Golden Ratio page
