Piet Mondrian, originally Pieter Cornelius Mondriaan, was born in 1872 in the Netherlands. Art was always present and encouraged in his life, as his father was a primary school teacher and amateur artist and his uncle was a painter. From 1892, Mondrian began attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam.

In his early career, Mondrian was inspired by the Dutch Impressionist style. In the early 20th century, he began to move into a more vibrant color palette and further away from realism, adopting the popular pointillist style. In 1911, Mondrian attended the Moderne Kunstkring exhibition of Cubist works in Amsterdam. This had such an impact on the artist that he moved to Paris the following year.

Upon arriving in Paris in 1912, he changed his name to Piet Mondrian, dropping the ‘a’ in his surname to make an anagram; “I Paint Modern”. Cubism heavily influenced his works at this time, and he used the muted color palette of the style, distilling objects to their simplest forms, lines, and shapes. Unlike the Cubists, Mondrian emphasized flatness rather than alluding to depth.

In 1914, Mondrian was at home in the Netherlands visiting his ill father when World War I broke out. He remained in the Netherlands for the duration of the war. This time would be incredibly important in Mondrian’s career: it was then that he developed De Stijl with fellow Dutch artists Bart van der Leck and Theo van Doesburg.

De Stijl (“The Style”) was a movement of pure abstraction inspired by Mondrian’s own spiritual and philosophical studies. Also known as Neo-Plasticism, the movement was marked by primary colors, straight lines, and abstraction through simplification. These basic compositions were actually a theosophical pursuit for Mondrian, who thought that spirituality and duality could be balanced through artistic creation. He never used a ruler to measure his lines, and also never used paints straight out of the tube, instead mixing his blues, reds, and yellows himself.

After the war, Mondrian returned to Paris to create the works for which he is best known. In 1925, he started to be recognized for his contributions to modernism. He moved to London to escape World War II, and his works were included in Hitler’s Degenerate Art show, which put Mondrian on a Nazi blacklist. His works subtly changed, such as the introduction of “lozenge” paintings, where the canvas was tilted 45 degrees to create a diamond shape. He also began to use double lines and smaller color blocks.

Mondrian relocated to New York City in 1940. He was very connected to the art world and was friends with art collector Peggy Guggenheim, who would exhibit his works at her gallery. Mondrian loved to dance even though he was not good at it. The jazz scene and Charlston had such an impact on him that they inspired his final completed piece, Broadway Boogie Woogie. In February, 1944, Piet Mondrian died of pneumonia in New York City.

Piet Mondrian’s abstract, primary-colored geometric works influenced later movements such as Modernism, Minimalism, and Bauhaus. Outside of the art world, Mondrian has inspired a collection of dresses by Yves Saint Laurent, as well as album covers and furniture.