Threlfall, Tim (1978) Piet Mondrian : his life's work and evolution, 1872 to 1944. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Piet Mondrian in his essays, the majority of which were
published in De Stijl, stressed the importance of a conscious
understanding of the concept of evolution, both as a conception
of man's spiritual and biolgical evolution. This study of his
life's work examines the development of his ever growing cognizance
of this concept as a 'unity in duality', and in addition
his awareness of the implications of this conception.
The consideration of Mondrian's life's work from the premises
set by a study involved with the evolutionary nature of his work
has brought into sharp focus the dialectical relationship that
his latter work has to his earlier work. But in addition research
conducted for this study has shown that the entirety of Mondrian's
work does not exist as an isolated individual incident but as a
consciously, thus dialectically related part of the History of
Philosophy of Art.
The methods used in the course of this study were developed
from the implications of the original premises 'to consider the
relationships between Mondrian's theories and practice'. To
begin with, a basic philosophic background was established against
which Mondrian's theories could be studied. This was followed
by a careful study of his early work against the background of
19th century European Art and the theories that influenced the
art of that period. A form of 'bibliography', was constructed
which embraced both paintings and literature with which Mondrian
could have concerned himself and been influenced by. For example,
the collection of paintings in the Mesdag Museum and Dr. Schoenmaekers
two books. The problem of visualizing Mondrian's lice as an evolutionary
process became an early and difficult question. It was resolved
through the construction of two statistical graphs, the second
of which was drawn with the aid of a computer.
At every stage of the close study of individual works, made
by Mondrian and other artists, whose work was used for comparative
purposes, analytic diagrams were constructed. They have proved
themselves to be invaluable in gaining a clarification and cognizance
of the evolution of Mondrian's concept of 'unity in duality',
in his visual work.
The major divisions of this study are concerned with the
stylistic and theoretical changes that make up the parts of
Mondrian's transition from an art based in the perceptual
cognizance and expression of reality to the conscious manifestation
of an art that was in its essential form rooted in a pure conception
of reality. In realizing this form of art Mondrian also
found answers to the ontological questions that had beset him in
his early years and had consequently acted as a powerful motivating
force to his artistic evolution.
The conclusions drawn from this study of Mondrian's life's
work are that his work in all its manifold aspects was, throughout
his life an ever evolving expression of man's desire to understand
and to manifest his understanding of the universe and as such his
work was in complete concordance with his theories.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > ND Painting
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Mondrian, Piet, 1872-1944 -- Criticism and interpretation, Painting -- Philosophy, Painters -- Netherlands
Official Date:	January 1978
Dates:	Date Event January 1978 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History of Art
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Barrett, Cyril
Sponsors:	Lanchester College of Technology
Description:	This is an abridged version for electronic use, lacking Volume 2 due to copyright restrictions; please see the official URL for details on how to access the full version.
Extent:	2 v.
Language:	eng

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