First set of 300 letters and essays by Piet Mondriaan now online, with more to come
The Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) and the Huygens Institute today launched the first part of The Mondrian Papers, an online edition of the complete letters and articles by the Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan. In addition to scans and transcriptions of the writings in their original language - Dutch or French - the online edition includes English translations. “For the first time allowing the full corpus of letters to be studied by an international audience,” the RKD said.
The first part of the edition consists of 331 earliest letters and three theoretical tests from the period 1892 to July 1919. It covers Mondriaan’s training, his first period in Paris, setting up the journal De Stijl, and his development from a naturalistic to an abstract painter.
“The Mondrian Papers provide a new and comprehensive picture of the artistic and intellectual milieu in which Mondrian grew up. His letters are not just an important source for research into the Dutch painter’s life and work but can also be regarded as a chronicle of the cultural life of his time,” the RKD said.
In addition to translations to English, The Mondrian Papers platform allows for word searches and links to data from other sources so that readers and researchers can find out more about the people, places, and events the Dutch painter referenced in his writings.
Annotation of the texts in Part 1 is still in progress and will be added to the platform as they are completed during the course of the year. “Material from the period July 1919 - February 1944 will be published in three installments over the next few years.”
