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Piet Mondrian
Oil paint on canvas
Mondrian wrote of this painting: ‘It’s not so bad, but I’m not there yet.’ The figures represent the stages in evolution from the physical to the spiritual realm, as promoted in Theosophy. The triangular nipples and navels of the women, which point upwards and downwards, symbolise their spiritual and earthly orientation. The central figure embodies the fulfilment of the evolutionary process, to the spiritual realm. The flowers on the left panel are symbols of purity, while those on the right symbolise tragic suffering.*
[Tate Modern]
From the exhibition
Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian: Forms of Life
(April – September 2023)
This is a unique chance to discover the visionary work of Swedish painter Hilma af Klint and experience Dutch painter Piet Mondrian’s influential art in a new light.
Although they never met, af Klint and Mondrian both invented their own languages of abstract art rooted in nature. At the heart of both of their artistic journeys was a shared desire to understand the forces behind life on earth.
Best known for his abstract work, Mondrian in fact began his career – like af Klint – as a landscape painter. Alongside Mondrian’s abstract compositions, you will see the rarely exhibited paintings of flowers he continued to create throughout his life. Also on display will be enigmatic works by af Klint in which natural forms become a pathway to abstraction.
Both artists shared an interest in new ideas of scientific discovery, spirituality and philosophy. Af Klint was also a medium, and this exhibition showcases the large-scale, otherworldly paintings she believed were commissioned by higher powers.
‘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…’ Piet Mondrian, 1914
‘The more we discover the wonders of nature, the more we become aware of ourselves.’ Hilma af Klint, 1917
[*Tate Modern]
Taken in the Tate Modern
I was just figuring out how to use the D70 when I took these shots, so some of them might be more blurry/grainy than they should be.