Piet Mondrian Three-Dimensional Compositions

Third Grade
3 Class Periods

Piet Mondrian Three-Dimensional Compositions, Third Grade Art

About the Artist:

Piet Mondrian was born in the Netherlands in 1872.

Piet Mondrian

A tree painted by Piet Mondrian.

He began his painting career being inspired by the world around him.  He painted landscapes, trees and windmills.

Eventually, he became interested in the style of cubism.  His artwork became more abstract.  Soon he found his own unique style using line, primary colors and rectangle shapes.  He called his style Neo-plasticism.  Mondrian passed away in 1944.  He was 72 years old.  Today, people are still inspired by his artwork and use it as inspiration for their own designs.

Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue.

Fashion inspired by artist Piet Mondrian.

Day 1:
On the first day of class for this lesson, students viewed a power point presentation on artist Piet Mondrian.  They examined many examples of his artwork and discussed in depth his use of line and color in his later abstract pieces.

Students were each given a piece of cardboard and 12 Popsicle sticks.  Students were instructed that today was a day that would be for prepping materials so they would be ready for the next class period.  The cardboard was painted with white tempera and the Popsicle sticks were painted black. All pieces were set aside to dry.

Day 2:
During this class students viewed a youtube clip about the artist Piet Mondrian.  Students loved this video set to music. 

Once we viewed the video clip, students were given 3 to 4 pieces of white foam core cut in various shapes and sizes.  They were instructed to add these pieces to their white cardboard with glue.  Students played with the placement of the Popsicle sticks on the cardboard.  Horizontal and vertical lines were highly encouraged.  After they created a composition they liked, the sticks were glued down.

Gluing composition.

Students drew their final compostions on a planning sheet.  This planning sheet was then colored based on how they believed they would paint their piece during the next class period.  Students were only allowed to use the primary colors.

Planning sheet.

Day 3:
Using tempera paints and their planning sheets as a guide, students painted their compositions in the style of Piet Mondrian.

Student using their planning sheet to paint their compositions.

Students Examples: