GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The horizontal and vertical black stripes and blocks of yellow, blue, and red against a white background create an active pattern of irregular sequences. Although this painting was named after a bustling square in Paris, it is removed from any notion of realistic reproduction. Rather, the network of lines and color blocks pulsates with the energy of the modern city that Piet Mondrian embraced and celebrated.
Mondrian fled from Paris in 1938 and settled in New York City a few years later, bringing with him this painting. Responding to the dynamism of the modern American city, he altered the painting, scraping away paint, widening lines, and adding bars of color. He said the blocks of color he added gave the work “more boogie woogie.”
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2010.
NOTES
Created 1938-1943
Geography unverified because of the number of places Mondrian lived/traveled between 38 and 43.
Piet Mondrian’s Place de la Concorde is a masterwork of the artist’s mature style, a completely nonrepresentational art that he called neoplasticism. He established a dynamic balance between a system of horizontal and vertical black stripes, and yellow, red, and blue rectangular blocks of color. The black lines and the areas they enclose are not standardized; each is carefully modulated with subtle differences in density and width. This linear network, neither rigid nor static, constitutes an animated and energetic pattern with irregular sequences. The way in which a line stops or addresses either adjacent lines or the edges of the composition is especially charged.
Even with its geometric simplicity and balance, the composition seems to pulsate with the energy of the city it celebrates. It is eloquent testimony of Mondrian’s enduring idealistic faith in the expressive power of a radically reduced vocabulary of vertical and horizontal lines, primary colors, and planes. Consistent with the neoplastic aesthetic he had developed in the 1920s, this painting is remote from any notion of realistic reproduction. It is a mode of expression that transcends particular or individual emotions.
Dorothy Kosinski, "Place de la Concorde", in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 132.
From 2012 guide, part of Windmill entry "...During the final phase of Mondrian's career, he moved to New York as he fled the chaos of war. in paintings from this period, such as Place de la Concorde, he gradually incorporated color directly into the grid, along with a new, syncopated rhythm inspired by jazz music and the urban fabric of the twentieth-century city." p. 245
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
277812165: UMO De Stijl My Heart: The Evolution of Mondrian's Abstractions
280540504: UMO Brettell Lecture: The Mondrian Brand
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Mondrianmat~Use this simple website to make your own digital image inspired by Mondrian.
- The Mondrian Guide to Life~Browse this list of ways to incorporate the artist's aesthetics and techniques into your daily life. (Tate, 2014)
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1982.22.FA
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General Description
The horizontal and vertical black stripes and blocks of yellow, blue, and red against a white background create an active pattern of irregular sequences. Although this painting was named after a bustling square in Paris, it is removed from any notion of realistic reproduction. Rather, the network of lines and color blocks pulsates with the energy of the modern city that Piet Mondrian embraced and celebrated.
Mondrian fled from Paris in 1938 and settled in New York City a few years later, bringing with him this painting. Responding to the dynamism of the modern American city, he altered the painting, scraping away paint, widening lines, and adding bars of color. He said the blocks of color he added gave the work “more boogie woogie.”
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2010.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Mondrianmat~Use this simple website to make your own digital image inspired by Mondrian.
- The Mondrian Guide to Life~Browse this list of ways to incorporate the artist's aesthetics and techniques into your daily life. (Tate, 2014)
Notes
Created 1938-1943
Geography unverified because of the number of places Mondrian lived/traveled between 38 and 43.
Piet Mondrian’s Place de la Concorde is a masterwork of the artist’s mature style, a completely nonrepresentational art that he called neoplasticism. He established a dynamic balance between a system of horizontal and vertical black stripes, and yellow, red, and blue rectangular blocks of color. The black lines and the areas they enclose are not standardized; each is carefully modulated with subtle differences in density and width. This linear network, neither rigid nor static, constitutes an animated and energetic pattern with irregular sequences. The way in which a line stops or addresses either adjacent lines or the edges of the composition is especially charged.
Even with its geometric simplicity and balance, the composition seems to pulsate with the energy of the city it celebrates. It is eloquent testimony of Mondrian’s enduring idealistic faith in the expressive power of a radically reduced vocabulary of vertical and horizontal lines, primary colors, and planes. Consistent with the neoplastic aesthetic he had developed in the 1920s, this painting is remote from any notion of realistic reproduction. It is a mode of expression that transcends particular or individual emotions.
Dorothy Kosinski, "Place de la Concorde", in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 132.
From 2012 guide, part of Windmill entry "...During the final phase of Mondrian's career, he moved to New York as he fled the chaos of war. in paintings from this period, such as Place de la Concorde, he gradually incorporated color directly into the grid, along with a new, syncopated rhythm inspired by jazz music and the urban fabric of the twentieth-century city." p. 245
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
277812165: UMO De Stijl My Heart: The Evolution of Mondrian's Abstractions
280540504: UMO Brettell Lecture: The Mondrian Brand
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
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