Editing Neoplasticism (section)

==Terminology ==
{{quote box |title=Plastic arts |quote=The term 'plastic arts' comes from the Greek word {{Lang|Grc-Latn|plastikos}}, which means "to mold or shape". This word perfectly describes the nature of plastic arts, which involve the use of materials that can be molded or shaped.{{sfnp|Madrid Academy of Art|2024}}  |source=Madrid Academy of Art |align=right|width=250px}}
[[file:Mondriaan boek neoplasticisme.JPG|thumb|upright 0.75|Mondrian's 1921 book, <br />{{lang|fr|Le Néo-Plasticisme}}{{sfnp|Mondrian|1920a}}]]
Mondrian, [[Bart van der Leck|Van der Leck]] and Van Doesburg first set out the philosophical basis for the art theory known originally as {{lang|nl|"Nieuwe Beelding"}}, but known today as "Neoplasticism", in a new art journal named ''[[De Stijl]]'' [''The Style''].{{sfnp|Overy|1969|p=7}} The term appears in an editorial by Van Doesburg in the first issue of the journal{{sfnp|van Doesburg|1917a}} and in the first of a series of articles by Mondrian entitled {{lang|nl|De Nieuwe Beelding in de schilderkunst}}.{{sfnp|Mondriaan|1917|pp=2{{ndash}}6}}{{efn|Subsequently translated most often as "Neoplasticism in painting"}} The expression "{{lang|nl|nieuwe beelding}}" is believed to derive from the work of [[M. H. J. Schoenmaekers|Mathieu Schoenmaekers]], who used the term in his 1915 book {{lang|nl|Het Nieuwe Wereldbeeld}},;{{sfnp|Welsh|Joosten|1969|p=14}}{{sfnp|Holtzman|James|1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/newartthenewlife0000mond_c0g8/page/27/mode/1up 27]}} copies of books by Schoenmaekers were found in Mondrian's library.{{sfnp|Threlfall|1978|p=13}}

Introducing their translation of Mondrian's publications, Holtzman and James wrote: 
{{blockquote|The Dutch verb {{lang|nl|beelden}} and [[wikt:substantive|substantive]] {{lang|nl|beelding}} signify form-giving, creation, and by extension image{{snd}} as do {{lang|de|gestalten}} and {{lang|de|Gestaltung}} in German, where Neo-Plastic[ism] is translated as {{lang|de|Die neue Gestaltung}}. The English ''plastic'' and the French {{lang|fr|plastique}} stem from the Greek {{lang|grc-Latn|plassein}}, [meaning] to mold or to form, but do not quite encompass the creative and structural signification of {{lang|nl|beelding}}.{{sfnp|Holtzman|James|1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/newartthenewlife0000mond_c0g8/page/26/mode/2up 27]}} }}

Some authors have translated {{lang|nl|nieuwe beelding}} as ''new art''.{{sfnp|Holtzman|James|1986|page= [https://archive.org/details/newartthenewlife0000mond_c0g8/mode/2up (cover)]}}{{sfnp|Tate|n.d.}}

The term {{lang|fr|néo-plasticisme}} [neo-plasticism] first appeared in Mondrian's {{lang|fr|Le Néo-plasticisme: Principe Général de l'Equivalence Plastique}},{{sfnp|Mondrian|1921}} [Neo-plasticism: the general principle of plastic equivalence].{{sfnp|Holtzman|James|1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/newartthenewlife0000mond_c0g8/page/132/mode/1up 132]}}{{efn|Historically the term ''[[plastic arts]]'' pre-dates ''neoplasticism'', denoting the ''visual'' arts (painting, sculpture, ceramics), as opposed to the art of ''writing'' (literature, music).{{sfnp|Kyle|2009|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cezanneamericanm0000ceza/page/66/mode/2up 67,68]}} In academic art, the word ''[[wikt:plastic|plastic]]'' means physically shapeable materials.{{sfnp|Ocvirk|Bone|Stinson|Wigg|1968|page=[https://archive.org/details/artfundamentalst00ocvi/page/160/mode/2up 160]}} As a graduate of the [[Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten]] [State academy of fine art], it is reasonable to assume that Mondrian was familiar with this usage. In an essay for ''De Stijl'', he wrote "The freedom to make changes in the plastic position of the means of expression is unique to painting. The sister arts, sculpture and architecture, are less free in this respect".{{sfnp|Holtzman|James|1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/newartthenewlife0000mond_c0g8/page/30/mode/1up 30]}} (The modern meaning of the word plastic,a synthetic polymer, was unknown at the time.) Theosophists call the spiritual essence of matter the "plastic soul" (taken from the Sanskrit "Svabhavat"). Mondrian is known to have an interest in theosophy and owned a copy of Blavatsky's book "The Key to Theosophy", which defines the term "plastic" in those terms (page 360). }}  Mondrian described the essay as a "condensed adaptation of the ideas in his Trialogue".{{sfnp|Holtzman|James|1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/newartthenewlife0000mond_c0g8/page/132/mode/1up 132]}}{{efn|By "trialogue", Mondrian means his set of articles for ''De Stijl''.{{sfnp|Mondrian|1995|p=(cover)}}{{sfnp|Holtzman|James|1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/newartthenewlife0000mond_c0g8/page/82/mode/1up 82]}} }} The book was translated into French with the help of Mondrian's old friend, Dr Rinus Ritsema van Eck. In the 1925 German edition – the fifth in the [[Bauhaus]] {{lang|de|Bauhausbücher}} series (translated by Rudolf F. Hartogh) – the term {{lang|fr|néo-plasticisme}} is translated as {{lang|de|Neue Gestaltung}} [New Design].{{sfnp|Mondrian|1925}}{{sfnp|Mondrian|2019}}

Between 1935 and 1936, Mondrian wrote an essay in French, translated into English with the help of [[Winifred Nicholson]] and published in the book ''Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art'' as "Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art (Figurative Art and Non-Figurative Art)".{{sfnp|Martin|Nicholson|Gabo|1937}} After moving to the United States, Mondrian wrote several articles in English with the help of [[Harry Holtzman]] and [[Charmion von Wiegand]], in which he maintained the use of the term 'plastic'.{{sfnp|Veen|2017}}

In his book "De Stijl", [[Paul Overy]] reflects on the confusing terminology for English readers:{{sfnp|Overy|1991|p=42}} 
{{blockquote| The terms {{lang|nl|beeldend}} and {{lang|nl|nieuwe beelding}} have caused more problems of interpretation than any others in the writing of Mondrian and other De Stijl contributors who adopted them. These Dutch terms are really untranslatable, containing more nuances that can be satisfactorily conveyed by a single English word. {{lang|nl|Beeldend}} means something like ‘'image forming'’ or ‘'image creating'’; {{lang|nl|nieuwe beelding}} means ‘'new image creation'’, or perhaps ''new structure''. In German, the term {{lang|nl|nieuwe beelding}} is translated as {{lang|de|neue Gestaltung}}, which is close in its complexity of meanings to the Dutch. In French, it was rendered as {{lang|fr|néo-plasticisme}}, later translated literally into English as ''Neo-Plasticism'', which is virtually meaningless. This has been further confounded by the editors of the collected English edition of Mondrian's writings, who adopted the absurd term "''the New Plastic''".{{sfnp|Overy|1991|p=42}} }}

Notwithstanding this critique, Victoria George provides a succinct explanation of Mondrian's terminology:  
{{blockquote|  What Mondrian called 'the New Plastic' was named as such because 'plastic' signified "that which creates an image".{{sfnp|Holtzman|James|1986|page=[https://archive.org/details/newartthenewlife0000mond_c0g8/page/14/mode/2up 14]}} It was ''New'' because its terms of reference had not been encountered before in painting. The image, that is, 'the Plastic', cleansed of superficialities and references to the natural world, is ''the New Plastic in Painting''.{{sfnp|George|2016|p=82}} }}