Up Close — Piet Mondrian’s “Grande Composizione”: What makes an object art?

What makes an object art? Growing up I always thought art was Michelangelo-esque paintings, with weirdly shaped baby angels sticking out of clouds, nude or loosely dressed people in theatrical poses and an overall aesthetic akin to a snapchat filter. Nothing…nothing like this.

Piet Mondrian’s “Grande composizione A con nero, rosso, grigio, giallo e blu” really doesn’t fit this description. So what about this collage of multicoloured boxes makes this art?

Let’s unpack this together. Our first instinct would be to try to find a real life symbol to ground this piece in a context we are familiar with. And perhaps we might find a sign if we look…nowhere! Mondrian’s entire thing was using primary colours and primary values to create abstract paintings that had no literal meaning. Together with his friend Theo van Doesburg and a couple of other Dutch artists, Mondrian pioneered an abstract art movement called “De Stijl” based on the desire to express the ideal of balance and harmony in both art and real life — but without representational similarities to any real world object.

Well, all that information really doesn’t make unpacking this painting any easier. What if…what if we just look at process of the painting? Let’s look closer — do you see the brush strokes? Imagine the effort it must have taken him to establish such vibrancy. Look at the precision of the lines. What about the choice of colour? Notice how the red is spread over the painting so as not to overwhelm the painting. Notice how in contrast the gold is heavier on the right side, but that doesn’t seem to distract your eye. Think about how much thought Mondrian must have put into the colours, their location, their vibrancy, and the overall effect of the painting so that it was all harmonious. Perhaps this is what makes an object art, intention, effort and purpose.