![\"molenmillmillinsunlightbypietmondrian\"](\"http:\/\/arts.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-content\/uploads\/molenmillmillinsunlightbypietmondrian.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMondrian had his beginnings in the Impressionist era, resulting in paintings that could be likened to Van Gogh or Cezanne. His colors were bold, his strokes gestural \u00e2\u20ac\u201c yet even here we can see a kind of foreshadowing in his stress on vertical and horizontal lines that segment the representational composition, as well as the use of primary colors.<\/p>\n
\n \n But he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t focus on integrated landscapes for very long, quickly turning to the singular tree for inspiration. Here the use of color is still based on dramatic contrast between complementaries like blue and orange, and the negative space of the tree becomes the central motif of this time period for the artist.<\/p>\n \n Even without bold colors, we can see that ordered segmentation of space within the web of branches is clearly what drives each painting. These interior pockets begin to look geometricized, imposing what is still clearly a tree onto a suggested framework that shows the beginnings of a grid-like format.<\/p>\n \n And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about the last we see of real trees from Mondrian. His work continues to evolve (or devolve, depending on your point of view) by way of breaking down the composition into shapes that look more and more geometric. Curved, black lines suggesting organic form delineate most of these color swatches, but those on the outskirts of the canvas are allowed to bleed and blend into one another.<\/p>\n \n \n It is here that any semblance to natural representation is lost, and Mondrian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paintings begin to look decidedly abstract. The majority of lines have been straightened out, and each canvas is made up of variations on two or three central colors. Yet these compositions are still dynamic, coming into focus towards the center of the almost-grid, and a sense of space is apparent.<\/p>\n \n The last few changes that had to occur before he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d reach the most \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mondrian-esque\u00e2\u20ac\u009d paintings happen surprisingly slowly. First was the introduction of a complete grid made up of only vertical and horizontal lines containing quadrilaterals in solid colors:<\/p>\n \n Followed by the disappearance of any color besides red, blue, yellow, black, white, and grey.<\/p>\n \n This change was further constricted by the use of primary colors for squares, black for the lines that separated them, and white for seemingly \u00e2\u20ac\u0153empty\u00e2\u20ac\u009d boxes in the composition. It is here that Mondrian reaches his most well known form in the search for the perfect abstraction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n