The Mondrian House is currently showing the exhibition 'Mondrian, a better world', based on Erik de Graaf's graphic novel of the same name. Erik tells how his book and the exhibition came about.
The exhibition 'Mondrian: A Better World' opened at the Mondrian House on 19 October 2024. The reason for this exhibition is the publication of the graphic novel of the same name by Erik de Graaf. The graphic novelist honours the famous painter with a colourful story about the last eventful years of his life in Paris, London and New York. Erik tells how his book and the exhibition came about.
How Mondrian came across Erik's path by chance
That Erik would spend three years working on a 300-page book about Mondrian, he could not have imagined beforehand. The artist came across his path almost by chance. Erik: 'I am fascinated by the Second World War and the influence of this period on the people who lived then. When I read that Mondrian fled from Paris to America during the war, I immediately knew, "I have to do something with this". After completing two other graphic novels, I delved into Mondrian's life.'
A lesser-known side of Mondrian
During his research, Erik discovered a lesser-known, idealistic side of the artist, whose paintings sought to balance opposites as a blueprint for a better world. A story that immediately grabbed Erik: 'Life leading up to and during World War II was getting darker and darker, while Mondrian was trying to create lightness. I found this contrast so strong that I decided to zoom in on the last 11 years of his life. That was between 1933 and 1944, so exactly the time when Nazism emerged and war broke out. Mondrian thought his work was so much more important than himself that, to protect his art, he decided to flee via London to America.'
"Things that can never be seen again can be made visible."
Bringing a world to life
In his book, Erik depicts a period of Mondrian's life of which there is little visual material. As a cartoonist, that is just fine, Erik explains: 'Things that can never be seen again can be made visible. You bring a world to life, as it were.' Incidentally, the story is largely based on facts: 'I incorporated a lot of information from books, letters and testimonies in my graphic novel. The bits where there are no sources are fiction. It's great that as a creator I can take that freedom.'
Thus, Erik incorporated Mondrian's take on neo-plasticism (the art theory centred on geometric shapes and primary colours) into his book in an original way. Erik: 'Mondrian did not only paint, he also thought about other art forms. For example, he designed theatre scenery. I thought long and hard about how I would make this visual in the book. In the end, I had Mondrian tell journalist and friend Charmion von Wiegand about his philosophy and you can see this depicted in a neo-plastic-style street. As a reader, you can walk down the street and look in and get an impression of his ideal world. In the book, this scene has become a fold-out, in the exhibition it becomes a big blow-up.'
Invent, sketch, omit and move
By combining enlarged illustrations from Erik's graphic novel with explanations of Mondrian's philosophy, the exhibition introduces visitors to Mondrian's world ideal and how it related to world issues. In addition, the exhibition shows how the book was created from start to finish. For this, Erik used a special working method, inspired by the work of comic book author Barbara Stok: 'First I thought up the big story. Then I made cards of separate scenes in text. I moved them around until a logical sequence emerged. Then I made thumbnails: basically the layout per page in which you determine which pictures will appear on a page. Then I sketched, inked and coloured the pages. This process repeats itself every time, you leave some out or you come up with new things.'
Keep telling Mondrian's story
During the exhibition period, Erik gives several master classes for adults and workshops for children. He sees this as another opportunity to continue telling the story of Mondrian. 'Of course, drawing gives pleasure and I enjoy seeing how much people enjoy drawing. I have the same myself: I sometimes went to work in the evenings for fun. But art can fulfil an important social function, as Mondrian showed. The world could also use a new Mondrian now. I think it is important that people know this side of the artist to give him the honour he deserves.'
The graphic novel 'Mondrian, a better world' is published by publisher Scratch Books and is also available in the museum shop and webshop of the Mondrian House. The exhibition of the same name can be visited until 2 March 2025.