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Picasso, Cubism, Mondrian Reference Work: Essay
His clearest example of cubist-focused style is the Sea (1912), still in a Dutch style but increasing with the use of geometric shapes and interlocking planes.
When Mondrian looked at other cubist works, for instance, Picasso's famous Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, he would note that while it works as an abstraction, it is a bit "busy" and jumbled, something he would try to correct in the art world through his strict use of lines, spaces, and above all, austerity. He appreciated Picasso's use of coloration and timbre, and of his ability to juxtapose a number of scenes, emotions, and angled points-of-view within this work, but also found it to be a tad jumbled. Joking, he said, "I'm not sure how it makes me feel; there are numerous emotions rolling around in my head then I view this work, but I wonder if Pablo knew what he wanted to communicate, or even what things the subject was saying?" I think, thought Mondrian, that what this cubist approach lacks is balance.
In my Red, Blue, and Yellow, for example, there are still variations in light, some color, and geometrical planes and figures. However, rather than trying to capture something "real" -- deconstruct it and put it back together in a primitive or childlike manner, I think order and sense of self require. For instance, explaining this in 1914 to my friend H.P. Bremmer, I note:
To move the cubists in the proper direction, "I construct lines and color combinations on a flat surface, in order to express general beauty with the utmost awareness. Nature (or, that which I see) inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional state so that an urge comes about to make something, but I want to come as close as possible to the truth and abstract everything from that, until I reach the foundation (still just an external foundation!) of things
I believe it is possible that, through horizontal and vertical lines constructed with awareness, but not with calculation, led by high intuition, and brought to harmony and rhythm, these basic forms of beauty, supplemented if necessary by other direct lines or curves, can become a work of art, as strong as it is true" (Hannon, 2008).
Mondrian's search was for a more personal and complete, emotional bond with his compositions, somethgin he called "Dynamic Balance." This was still a cubist approach, in that there is a grid in which he worked, and the grid completely defined the way he saw the world, and the way in which he preferred the world be organized: the vertical equaling the male = space= static = harmony, while the horizontal = female = time= dynamics=melody. This, Mondrian thought, was a better reflection of nature and of the underlying utopian vision of the way the world remained interconnected. In fact, it was this search for meaning that allowed Mondrian to take cubism further and apply it to the harmony of the environment -- timeless and universal (Schufreider, 1997).
REFERENCES
"Biography and Works of Pablo Picasso." (2006). Cited in:
http://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/
Grantefuhrer-Trier, a. (2009). Cubism. Taschen.
Hannon, J. (2008). "Hip to be Square." Carnage Online. Cited in:
http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmag/feature.php?id=86
Perry, G., et.al. (1993). Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction. Yale University Press.
Scjifreoder. G. (1997). Mondria's Opening: The Space of Pain. Foucsing.org; Cited in:
http://www.focusing.org/apm_papers/schuf.html
Mondrian -- the Sea
Sample Source(s) Used
REFERENCES
"Biography and Works of Pablo Picasso." (2006). Cited in:
http://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/
Grantefuhrer-Trier, a. (2009). Cubism. Taschen.
Hannon, J. (2008). "Hip to be Square." Carnage Online. Cited in:
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