neoplasticism

Term used by the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian for both the severely geometrical style of painting he practised and the ideas that lay behind it.

Mondrian was the leading figure of De Stijl, a group of abstract artists based in the Netherlands, and he first used the term neoplasticism (in Dutch ‘nieuwe beelding’, literally ‘new image creation’ or ‘new structure’) in a series of articles published in the group's journal (also called De Stijl) in 1917-18. Mondrian lived in France for many years, and he later used a French equivalent, ‘néo-plasticisme’, from which the English phrase is derived.

Mondrian used only very simple forms - straight lines and rectangles - in his paintings, and he restricted himself to a few colours - the primaries blue, red, and yellow, plus black, white and grey. He believed that by using such pure elements he could produce an art of clarity and balance that would express ideas of universal harmony.