Under the banner of Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian (1872 - 1944) has drawn a lot of stripes and plans in his famous "Boogie-Woogie"-works. Prior using primary colors as yellow, red and blue with black and grey. He painted his artworks, BUT: to develope his artworks, he layoutet his sketches with TAPE! We wonder if he -if he had know it, (`cause it didn`t exist by his time) - if he had left his artworks just by using tapes...
(Piet Mondrian / "Composition with large red plane, black, greay and blue" (1921) / in possession of Gemeente Museum, Den Haag)
Using tapes on his sketches, they helped Mondrian to let his work sink in. He could tape the stripes back and forth until he was satisfied. Not till than he took his paint brushes. A lot of artworks in this special style arose. And sometimes it took a long time until he was satisfied and pleased with his work. Unfortunataly he didn`t finish his last one, named "Victory Boogie Woogie". You can still find some scraps of tapes on it. Piet Mondrian died while working on his artwork by suffering from the consequence of a pneunomia. Short before his death, it is reported that he has completly redesigned his work.
(Piet Mondrian / "Victory Boogie Woogie" ( 1942-44) / in possession of Gemeente Museum, Den Haag)
This and nearly 300 others of his artworks are shown in the „Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag“. In this one-of-a-kind permanent exhibition you can see his works in the context of other artists. Here you can also get a feeling for how fashion, architcture and art is interacting.
(Piet Mondriaan / "Composition with grey lines" (1918) & "Composition with yellow lines" (1933) /
both in possession of Gemeente Museum, Den Haag)
Inspire the artist in yourself!
Watching the arrworks of Piet Mondrian you might fancy with taping your surrounding in this style. And it is easy to do! With mt masking tape you can quick convert everything into your own artwork: on furniture, walls. dishes, on the street... And you can behave like Piet Mondrian by changing the works untill you are happy with them.
Here you are some inspiering examples:
Door and workplace in the style of Piet Mondrian with mt masking tape, the main light switch is also taped in this look.
Stool, salt mill and electric (!) candle are also taped in Piet Mondrian -style with mt masking tape.
And than we discoverd even more something very special:
Reading Hour with Piet Mondrian:
Not only for kids are these two amazing books, published in english by Enchanted Lion Books. Also they are a very cute gift for someone, especially in combination with some matching mt masking tapes to inspire the artist in you! Reading, talking about and creating together - these are some very valuable hours you can spend together. And if you take some photos of your crafts to keep them together with your books, you will have a real treasure-making project!
About the books:
„Mister Orange“
by Truus Matti
Age Group 9 and up / trade cloth / ISBN 978-1-59270-123-0
A New York City boy talks with Piet Mondrian (whom he knows only as "Mister Orange") about the war, the future, creativity, and color. The year: 1943. The place: Manhattan. Linus Muller works at the family grocery store. When his oldest brother, Albie, leaves to fight in World War II, Linus takes over the grocery deliveries. One of his customers is a European artist who orders a crate of oranges every other week. Through his conversations with this "Mister Orange", Linus learns about war, heroism, the future, and creative freedom. Only at the end of the story does Linus learn Mister Orange's true identity...
"Coppernickel goes Mondrian“
Written & Illustrated by Wouter van Reek
Age Group 4-8 / 40 pages full color Throughout / ISBN 978-1-59270-119-3
Mr. Quickstep accompanied by his dog Foxtrot, is looking for the future. On the way, they meet up with Coppernickel and his dog Tungsten. Coppernickel says there's no need to look for the future, as it will arrive anyway. Mr. Quickstep disagrees, for the future he's after hasn't even been thought of yet. Left behind, Coppernickel worries that he will miss out if he doesn't follow Mr. Quickstep, so he sets off with Tungsten. Naturally, Coppernickel and Mr. Quickstep bump into each other again, which allows Mr. Quickstep to fling open the door to the future by showing Coppernickel his last, most modern work. What stands out here is how Mr. Quickstep's attempt to find an abstract essence in the very stuff of reality is woven right into the illustrations of this graphically distinguished work, giving children the sense that the future is theirs to create as they see it. Dreams can become reality and in the process we too will be transformed.
Copyrights:
Photos of Piet Mondrian artworks are kindly providet by courtsy of Gemeente Museum, Den Haag.
The Cover design of the book "Mister Orange" is by Jenni Desmond © Enchanted Lion Books and used with permission from the publisher.
The "Coppernickel goes Mondrian" book is in original published by Leopold and here shown in the English-language version with permission of the publisher Enchanted Lion Books.
We thank all for the grant to use photos and words.