Abstract pioneer: Harmonies in red, yellow, and blue A key figure in the international avant-garde, Piet Mondrian(1872 1944) was at once an extraordinary painter and leading art theoretician whose influence resonate to this day. Coining the term Neo-plasticism, he pursued a style of painting composed only ofprimary colorsagainst agrid of black vertical and horizontal linesand awhite base background.Mondrian s vision was that this essential painting would help to achieve a society in which art as such has no place, but rather exists for thetotal realization of beauty . With stints inAmsterdam, Paris, London, and New York, Mondrian drew upon themodern metropolisand modern music, especiallyjazz, as points of inspiration. In 1917, he co-foundedDe Stijl, originally a publication, and subsequently a circle of practitioners, committed to a strictly geometrical art of horizontals and verticals.With key works and succinct texts, this introductory book presents Mondrian's distinctive and pioneering oeuvre, an abiding inspiration forfashion, art, architecture, and design, from White Stripes album covers to Yves Saint Laurent dresses. About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN s Basic Art series features: a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance a concise biography approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions "