The Rise and Fall of Abstract Art

From utopian beginnings to the present day

Composition (№1) Gray-Red (1935) by Piet Mondrian. Oil on canvas. 57.5 × 55.6 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, U.S. Image source Art Institute of Chicago (open access)

When, in the late 19th century, artists began to move away from naturalistic representations of the world, a new idealism in art emerged.

Many artists, including Piet Mondrian, who painted Composition (№1) Gray-Red in 1935, believed that abstract art could be instrumental in a more harmonious society by…