Dutch painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) is considered as one of the most prominent and influential artists in the history of Modern Art in the first half of the 20th century. He developed and perfected artistic theories of modern abstract artists into its end. His pure abstract style called Neo-Plasticism, proposed after 1919, was the result of his contemplation on many philosophical and artistic theories and concepts as well as his consistent experimentations on canvas in the second decade of the 20th century.
Mondrian was not only an influential painter, but also a prolific writer of his artistic theories. Throughout three decades, from 1914 till 1944 (his death), he wrote his Neo-Plastic theories in more than one hundred pieces of writings such as articles, notes, exhibition catalogues, autobiographies, and essays. In his writings, he talked about his theories and principles of Neo-Plasticism in relation to wide ranges of topics such as society, culture, morality, politics, and art. In his belief, the principles of pure abstract style of Neo-Plasticism derived from ancient laws of nature and universe notably a universal equilibrium and unity. Therefore, he considered his artistic theories as social and moral rules for creating a utopian life (earthy paradise) filled with moral values such as brotherhood, unity, equivalence, justice, and peace. In a nutshell, Mondrian believed that his principles of Neo-Plasticism should be implemented in society in order to enhance the moral and physical wellbeing of mankind.
In spite of crucial role of Mondrian for perfection of non-representational painting in the history of Modern Art, scholars showed scant attention to the analysis of his Neo-Plastic theory and paintings. In the previous publications, scholars overly examined Mondrian’s art and life through a historical or philosophical lens. Moreover, scholars (especially in Iran) investigated his theory of Neo-Plasticism in relation to other fields, most importantly modern architecture. Lastly, Mondrian’s Neo-Plastic terms and principles have not discussed in relation to his paintings and writings. To fill this gap, in this article, pivotal factors involved in the formation of Piet Mondrian’s Neo-Plastic painting are examined. The main aim of this paper is to explore various philosophical, stylistic, and theoretical factors which they were seminal for the emergence of Neo-Plastic art in the end of the 1910’s. In addition, in this article concepts ‘equilibrium’ (new term for harmony), beauty as pure truth, as well as terms ‘Neo-Plastic’ are elaborated. In this article, a descriptive-analytical approach is used as method of analysis in a way the article is written based on synthesis of viewpoints of scholars and examination of Mondrian’s writings and paintings. At the end of this article, we will realize that the very foundation of Neo-Plasticism is mainly derived from philosophical and theoretical teachings of philosophers and artists on Mondrian. We will see that many of new terms such as ‘equilibrium’, ‘beauty as truth’, as well as term ‘Neo-Plastic’ are indeed derived from teachings of artists and philosophers whose ideas were dominant on Mondrian’s artistic vision in the second decade of the 20th century.