Perhaps Asymmetry is not All Bad

"I admit I struggle with asymmetry. Yet every room in my house has a different sized Mondrian on the wall. There is the large one above the mantle, the small one behind the sink in the kitchen, and the actual sized replica above the toilet. There are different sizes with different amounts of fading throughout the house. The painting, oil on canvas, seems rudimentary to some and life changing to others. It is always a focal point of my class on art history, and if I could take you all to Zurich, I would." Amos Smith, associate professor of art at the University of Texas, addressed a room full of students just starting Art History.

"Sorry about telling you about the one above the toilet, but it is a great conversation starter at parties. 'Do you know which artist is above the toilet at Amos' house?' The thing about Mondrian is that the asymmetry does not affect me the way other asymmetry does. Maybe it is the perfect lines or the color choice. I will never be sure. However, that painting resonates with me more than any other painting because every person that looks at it thinks that he or she could have made that piece of art and been famous forever. Children can draw rectangles and fill them in with color. However, Mondrian's name is at the top of many lists of famous artists."

"Professor Smith," Rachelle, a freshman in the back jumped in. "I cannot help but agree. I have always thought I could have produced this image and been rich beyond measure. Why is this artwork so famous?"

"Rachelle, this is a very specific question to this painting, but it is also a common question of abstract art in general. Why would someone pay large sums of money for a painting that looks like paint cans tipped over on it, or in this case, why would a painting with rectangles be so ridiculously famous? I think it boils down to the beauty and depth of humans. We can see different things in each other that unite us and bond us. Those with different viewpoints are stuck on the outside. Neither party is incorrect, but it is truly beautiful to encounter people that share a similar love for something like a small piece of artwork."

Later that day, Amos sat on his couch with a glass of wine in his left hand. In his right hand rested his paintbrush. He, too, secretly hoped for a day when his abstract work of art would reach critical acclaim, but he also really did have Mondrian's Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow in every room of his house. It was never just a story for his students. He truly admired the painting getting into the shower and doing the dishes. However, some days he was at a loss as to what the painting meant and what he should paint next.

Amos' true hangup was that he was actually obsessed with Mondrian's Evening; Red Tree, but every visitor that he had over to his house never knew the picture and always asked him about it. Now, his personal bedroom was lined with different sized replicas of Evening; Red Tree. It was abstract, yet one could also obviously pick out the tree as well. Amos had been trying to draw trees since the early days of his childhood. There is a beauty in trees that simply cannot be escaped. Their size and asymmetry are breathtaking. Their colors are simple, yet beautiful. At that moment, it finally clicked in Amos' head why he loved Piet Mondrian so much. It started with Evening; Red Tree and moved to Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow simply due to the beauty of nature, specifically the beauty of trees.

Perhaps asymmetry is not all bad, he thought. A few years later, Amos would invite a woman up to his room. Thankfully, she would not be put off by his large, one room collection of Evening; Red Tree. She would also not ask about the Mondrian paintings in each room. She would instead speak to the beauty of the birch tree outside Amos' house, the one that seemed to lean slightly to the north and had a complete lack of symmetry. Abstract art, trees, and true beauty are simply to be left to the eye of the beholder. Her face was not perfect to many men, but she was and is more beautiful than all abstract art in Amos' opinion.