Piet Mondrian

No discussion of color blocking would be complete without discussing the enormous influence of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.  Mondrian was the father of geometric paintings.  He is most known for his paintings which he called Neo-plasticism.  They are are grids of black and white with pops of the three primary colors.  This is a style which is much coveted and copied.  Here are a few of his marvelous well-known works.

 Above two images via Department Art.

 Leftcoastmini.

le modalogue.

Above two images Kent Wang.

As you can see, the paintings are simple, but they are not easy.  I once had a discussion with an artist who said he could execute these better than Mondrian.  I doubt that.  Simple grid lines are difficult to execute, they require precision.  One line out of place and the painting is ruined.  Even if you can execute these, you still know that you didn't conceive of these.  Conception is arguably the most difficult stage of art.

As you can see, any of these would work well in a modern environment.  Mondrian's art is often copied on merchandise.  Here are a few examples. 

 World Art Resource.

The World According to Jessica Claire.

 Flickr user Mad Modern.

 

How awesome is this?  I could bore you with a philosophical discussion regarding combining the two icons of  Mondrian and Hello Kitty.  But I won't.  Sometimes I think too many words are written and spoken about art.  Art just is, and it's subjective.  It's a feeling.  Sometimes a piece just speaks to you.

Here's a bonus:  if you love Hello Kitty you simply must check out the collection by Plasticgod at Ananas a Miami.