Pacific Connections - Mondrian Vanity Tray - Hand Crafted Lacquered Wood - Composition in Black and White (1934) - 12" x 8" Inches

The dutch painter and co- founder of the De Stijl movement Piet Mondrian’s work “Composition in Black and White” (1934) is represented in this elegant hand-crafter wood tray lacquered in several layers of resin approved by the Mondrian Trust, the estate of Piet Mondrian which promotes the awareness of Mondrian’s works and ensures the integrity of his work. The tray’s durability and resistance to heat an alcohol is accomplished through the application and hand polishing of each individual layer of resin. Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) is regarded as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Although Mondrian was academically trained, during the 1910’s Mondrian embraced geometric abstraction and constructivist ideas. De Stijl’ aesthetic aims departed away from classicism and pursued a quest for purity through a strong abstraction through an emphasis in geometry and was focused on what Mondrian called, Neo-Plasticism, or “The New Plastic Painting” which refers to a new emphasis on abstraction as the true realistic representation of nature in the plastic arts, like sculpture or painting. In his work “Composition in Black and White” (1934) one can evidence Piet Mondrian’s emancipation from the mimetic representations of nature through his aesthetic purity evidenced in the composition’s use of the two primary values (black and white) and the two main directions (vertical and horizontal). Mondrian’s artistic conceptions of pure abstraction as the true representation of the real world was influenced in his interest in Helena Blavatsky’s Theosophy, a spiritualist practice which emerged during the late nineteenth century that was interested in combining aspects of different belief systems to seek for a fundamental harmony and essential unity between all belief systems and all living beings. In this way, Mondrian’s use of minimalist formal elements and color schemes, were utilized to convey an essence of universality.

Location: DFW, TX