Incollect Magazine - Issue 2

HAPPENINGS Mondrian Evolution June 5–October 9, 2022 Fondation Beyeler, Basel It is hard to imagine that the godfather of modern abstract art and design was once a landscape painter, but that is the fascinating story being told in Mondrian Evolution, an exhibition of 89 works exploring Dutch painter Piet Mondrian’s (1872–1944) shift from a 19th-century traditional landscape painter to an innovative designer of rigid geometric abstractions as part of a broader spiritual quest for universal values and aesthetics in art. He christened his non-representational style of painting shapes and lines as ‘neo-plasticism’ and limited himself in the end to the use of only three primary colors (red, blue and yellow) as well as three neutrals (black, white and gray) with horizontal and vertical lines. This radical reductionism came to define avant garde modernism in the early to middle decades of the 20th century and had far-reaching influences on 20th-century design, architecture, art, and fashion —most notably Yves Saint Laurent’s 1966 Mondrian dresses. The show doubles as retrospective, marking the 150th anniversary of the artist’s birth, taking us back in time to his youthful artistic roots in realism and impressionism. Sections of the exhibition are devoted to paintings of realistic subjects like windmills, sand dunes and seascapes, followed by early experiments depicting plants in all states of abstraction. Mondrian Evolution is organized jointly by the Fondation Beyeler in Basel and Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf. It’s a fascinating show with universal appeal, given the wide influence of Mondrian on so many movements of 20th century art and design. Piet Mondrian (1872–1944), No. VI / Composition No. II, 1920. Oil on canvas, 99.7 x 100.3 cm. Tate, purchased in 1967. © 2021 Mondrian/Holtzman Trust. Photo: Tate. Issue 2 60 www.incollect.com C M Y CM MY CY CMY K