Mondrian Collage

First grade is just finishing this fun unit on Piet Mondrian.

To begin, the students glued construction paper lines to create a composition. They could cut or tear their lines, and they had to make sure that the lines intersected. The students were given the choice to simply create shapes or patterns, or they could create an abstract representation of something real.

The next class, students used oil pastels to add color to their compositions. They were only allowed to choose colors from Piet Mondrian's palette (the primary colors and the gray scale.) The students were allowed to color in their composition any way they wanted. Some chose to color in between their lines; some chose to color on their lines; and some chose to draw other shapes and lines all over! Great variety!

Next week, the students will add titles to the work. That is an especially fun part of the unit! The students look at their work and think about what their lines and shape represent. Then, they give it a title to help clue in the viewer to the subject of their composition. I will share some of those when they are complete!

Below are the art examples we looked at during this unit:

The first two are images of works by Mondrian. I also included Caprice in February by Paul Klee and an image of the Pyramid de Louvre as examples of ways that other artists used simple intersecting lines and colors.