Piet Mondrian’s Evolution of his Theoretical Ideas and its Conformity with Pure Elements of Neo-Plastic Paintings throughout 1927-1944

In spite of the proposal of various theoretical argumentson philosophical, historical, social, and stylistic roots of theformation of pure abstract paintings, their stark appearancehas been often a deterrent factor for beholders to be attractedto this kind of art. One of the main examples of this problemis pertinent to the visual analysis of Piet Mondrian’s (1872-1944) Neo-Plastic compositions. Although, Mondrian’sseminal role in the development and maturation of abstractpainting is evident in Modern art history, yet little is knownabout the development of his artistic ideas on principlesof Neo-Plasticism he wrote in 1926. Mondrian in manyinstances in his 1917-1944 theoretical writings explicatesabout his Neo-Plastic principles which he considers themas universal principles not only for a ‘new art’ -  bestepitomized in his pure abstract style called Neo-Plasticismbut also for well-being of mankind and construction ofa new life and a utopian society. Nevertheless, in theprevious publications, Mondrian’s Neo-Plastic paintingsand his theoretical writings have been analyzed apartfrom each other, rather than to be examined in relationto each other. Hitherto, Neo-Plastic paintings and itspertinent theory have been either scrutinized in the lightof intricate philosophical, esoteric and artistic doctrines,particularly Hegel’s thoughts, Theosophy, Cubism, and DeStijl movement, or they are mostly examined based upona Greenbergian formalist standpoint in relation to criterionof flatness of elements of painting on the canvas as wellas abstraction of representational elements. Nevertheless,Neo-Plastic paintings have been rarely examined in regardto the principles of Neo-Plasticism. As such, the goal of thisarticle is to assess the authenticity of this hypothesis thatlooking at Mondrian’s Neo-Plastic paintings and writingsin parallel with each other, helps us to more clearly interpretand discern the apparent changes in the appearance of NeoPlastic paintings in different periods of Neo-Plasticism.Indeed, this article mainly aims to expound the rationalesbehind the extant pictorial changes in appearance of thelate Neo-Plastic paintings, especially those paintingscreated after 1932. To this end, development of Mondrian’stheoretical ideas in respect to role and characteristics ofelements of his Neo-Plastic paintings (mainly line, color,and plane), especially in relation to the content of the firstprinciple of Neo-Plasticism, are scrutinized in two periodsof Neo-Plasticism: 1- Middle Neo-Plastic period (1927-1931) when we realize subtle changes in appearance oflines that differentiate them from pre-1926 compositions;2- Late Neo-Plastic period (1932 -1944) when we findrevolutionary alterations in appearance of Neo-Plasticpaintings such as pluralization of lines, using lines andcolors as free and self-reliant elements, and transformationof the role of lines and colors. The results of this researchdemonstrate that in the late Neo-Plastic period, Mondrian’stheoretical viewpoints on elements of Neo-Plastic paintinghave been noticeably altered in comparison to middle periodand particularly in respect to what he had theorized in hisfirst principle of Neo-Plasticism in 1926; and in some cases,especially after 1938, they even violate the first principle ofNeo-Plasticism