Piet Mondrian was born March 7, 1872, as Pieter Cornerlis Mondriaan. He is well known for his involvement in the Dutch art movement De Stijl which “advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and color” (Neo-Plasticism and De Stijl). This means simplified shapes, ideally composed of just vertical or horizontal directions, and only primary colors in addition to black and white. From this concept, Mondrian produce many famous abstract paintings made up of only colored squares and lines. One of Mondrian’s works, Tree (1912) shows a clear transition from a realistic depiction to an abstract one. It is one of his first attempts at a “pure” form, which could be seen in his later artwork in a much more refined
