My Mondrian lesson is part of a larger lesson on abstraction in 20th century art. This lesson always fluctuates, therefore I am only going to lay out the part for Mondrian because I really like it. 🙂
De Stijl Introduction
When I move into the 18th century “isms” I usually do a general overview of that ism first before going into the art. My introduction to De Stijl is inspired by The Art Story:
The Netherlands-based De Stijl movement embraced an abstract, pared-down aesthetic centered in basic visual elements such as geometric forms and primary colors. The reduced quality of De Stijl art was envisioned by its creators as a universal visual language appropriate to the modern era, a time of a new, spiritualized world order. Promoting their innovative ideas in their journal of the same name, the members envisioned nothing less than the ideal fusion of form and function, thereby making De Stijl in effect the ultimate style. De Stijl’s influence was perhaps felt most noticeably in the realm of architecture, helping give rise to the International Style of the 1920s and 1930s.
Puzzle Activity
Right after the overview of De Stijl, I split the students into groups of 3-4 and give them large “puzzle” pieces I made of some of Mondrian’s non-objective artworks. Be careful when planning out how to cut up these pieces so that it is not a dead giveaway how it goes together.
Note: My district has a print shop when we can print things in color and large poster size. The quality is high, so that is how I printed these. They do need to be in color for this activity to work; I hope you do not have to spend your own money on this lesson!
I give the students 5 minutes max (I promise, it’s enough time!) to make their own artwork with the pieces they have. They are NOT trying to recreate the original artwork (pssst don’t show them the final images yet!). They are trying to make their own non-objective artworks. I require that their final piece be a square/rectangle to up the difficulty in the “puzzle.”
Mondrian Puzzle Images
When the 5 minutes are up have them walk around to see the other art pieces. Then have a quick discussion about how difficult it was to create visual balance and actually organize an attractive piece of art with so few visual markers. Only then you show them the originals for comparison.
The more basic the color, the more inward, the more pure.
– Piet Mondrian
I then do a short lecture on Mondrian and why a 5 year old COULDN’T make this piece. I also think it is key to mention his own artistic (& spiritual) journey in the creation of his art. I find that organizing the lesson this way immediately engages student in an artwork that normally students roll their eyes at.
Resources
Note: many of the artworks below are not *the* ones from the 250 but De Stijl is … De Stijl.
- The Art Story: De Stijl
- Daily Art Magazine: How to Read Piet Mondrian
- ART UK: Piet Mondrian’s ‘Composition C (No. III) with Red, Yellow and Blue’ at Tate Modern
- Daily Art Magazine: Masterpiece Story: Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow by Piet Mondrian
- The Art Story: Mondrian
- Khan Academy: Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow
- -Utopia/Dystopia: Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue
- The Cleveland Museum of Art: Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue (little information but a fantastic zoom feature!)
- Piet Mondrian: Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1929 by Piet Mondrian
- smarthistory: De Stijl, Part I: Total Purity
- smarthistory:De Stijl, Part II: Near-Abstraction and Pure Abstraction
- smarthistory: TateShots: Piet Mondrian (video; 3:43)
- smarthistory: Piet Mondrian, Composition No. II, with Red and Blue (video; 6:03)
JMF
P.S. I actually visually dislike Mondrian, but I find that the art pieces I personally do not love are the most fun to teach. Maybe because I put forth more effort into those lessons instead of just lecturing?
