Piet Mondrian
Holland, 1872–1944

Piet Mondrian (peet mawn-dree-ahn) was born in 1872 and died in 1944. Mondrian
was a Dutch painter, theorist, and draftsman. His work marks the transition at the
start of the twentieth century from Symbolism to Neo-Impressionism and Cubism.

Mondrian learned the basics of drawing very early from a retired Amsterdam drawing
teacher. He was taught by using reproductions of nineteenth-century works in art
journals. In 1894, he made his living by such varied work as book illustrating,
painting tiles, and decorating a ceiling in Amsterdam. He was also interested in
modern theater and music.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mondrian showed himself to be
an accomplished practitioner of plein-air painting. His work has a strong expressive
quality.