Piet Mondrian, one of the founders of the Dutch modern movement De Stijl, is mostly known for his pure abstractions from the 1920s, reduced to lines and rectangles and basics colors. You know what I mean:

But before Mondrian came to this he was trying to find his way. He tried various styles of painting. A turning point in his career was in 1911 when his arrived to Paris from the Netherlands. He started to experiment with Cubism and integrate himself within the Parisian avant-garde removed an ‘a’ from the Dutch spelling of his name (Mondriaan). That led him to his abstract ideas.

Cubism sounds ok when you think about DeStijl and Neoplasticism but Symbolism? Postimpressionism? Here you will find five paintings of early Mondrian that may be quite a surprise for you!

1. Symbolism

2. Fauvism

3. Postimpressionism

4 .Cubism

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