Abstract

In my paper I will investigate the way in which visual art can be interpreted as an attempt to unify seeming opposites, such as for instance the individual and the universal, the subjective and the objective. I will focus on early Modernist art, with particular reference to the ideas and theoretical framework of early twentieth century Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. Art which has as its aim the establishment of unity in diversity, as I argue is true of Mondrian's art, has the abilty to stimulate consciousness of the interrelation of ideas, events and ultimately of humanity. In my paper I visit theories on the fourth dimension as a higher, unifying plane (from a philosophical point of view), the notion of Geist as used by Hegel in his philosophical writings, the relation between Geist and Dao (a concept addressed in Chinese philosophy), and the theory of monism as a philosophical construct. I will show how these ideas are expressed in the abstract paintings of Piet Mondrian, and how the notion of monism can be related to contemporary discourse on diversity.