Mondrian: The Art of Destruction - Softcover

Blotkamp, Carel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861891008 ISBN 13: 9781861891006

Publisher: Reaktion Books, 2004

Synopsis

This book on Mondrian, one of the great pioneers of abstract art, analyzes the interrelation between his paintings and his theories on art and life as expressed in public writings and (largely unpublished) letters. Mondrian's art was not based on reasoning or calculation – on the contrary, intuition was central to his concept of the artistic process – but he always felt a strong urge to position his art in a wider cultural and philosophical context. Crucial to Mondrian's thought was the Theosophical notion of evolution, which required the destruction of the old to make room for the new, in life, in society and in art.

Mondrian: The Art of Destruction concentrates on the paintings, the artist's major achievement, examining the influences that shaped his art: Fauvism and Cubism c.1910, the work of Bart van der Leck, De Stijl and the Parisian art world during the 1920s. Mondrian appears not as an isolated figure, but as an artist who took a keen interest in the world around him, a veritable avant-garde painter who saw his role as a creator of a new, modern culture.

About this title

About the Author:

Carel Blotkamp is Professor of the History of Modern Art at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Dutch

About this edition

• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1861891008
• ISBN 13: 9781861891006
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264