Piet Mondrian was born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, Jr. in Amersfoort the Netherlands, March 7, 1872. From 1892 to 1897 he studied art the Rijksakademie van Beelende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Up until 1908, his paintings reflected the conventional Dutch landscapes. In 1909 he recognized the avant-garde art movements of the time, such as Dutch Impressionism, Fauvism, and Symbolism, and thus withdrew from the mere imitation of nature. In 1909 he decided to join the Theosophical Society, and turned to an inward spiritual world thanks to the Society's religious mysticism.…
