Mondrian Umbrella - MoMa - Composition Red, Yellow and Blue

This Mondrian Umbrella is from the MoMa collection.

The painting that inspired this patch consists of geometric figures, in particular, variations of squares and rectangles. The painting was born from the “˜De Stijl’ movement, one of the major modern movements focused on Neo-Plasticism and founded by Mondrian. The horizontal lines signify a sense of rest and calm, while the vertical lines communicate a sense of height. Working together as an overall piece, the lines create a sense of stability and solidarity. Mondrian was attempting to portray this sense of stability through his paintings and evoke feelings of an utopian society rather than face the instability of the world in its current state.

In his career and in his life Mondrian went through different phases. He started with classic landscape painting with a realist style and refined portraits with numerous details. Then in the search of his own style and true expression he was enlightened by simplicity. He re-found himself in a painting style based on essential shapes and basic colors. This would turn out to be the peak of his artist career and what he eventually became famous for. He decided to strip down his style from all unnecessary addition and artifacts. In his quest for purity, he started to work on compositions only built with primary colors and geometric lines. This new minimalist approach was to him the best representation of aesthetics. More details on Mondrian Umbrella - MoMa - Composition Red, Yellow and Blue: