Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 2: Modern Era (1850–1949)
1917
Composition with Lines by Piet Mondrian
This Early Modern oil on canvas was completed during Mondrian’s transition from Cubism to Neoplasticism.
A. Michael Noll in 1965 would go on to conduct a famous early computer art experiment with Mondrian’s Composition with Lines.
He asked colleagues their preference between the Mondrian piece and his computer-created Computer Composition With Lines. This was an early attempt to compare the creative hand of the artist to the creative power of a machine.
Listen to Peter Bauman’s interview with A. Michael Noll (transcript).
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
A. Michael Noll, Piet Mondrian
Movements
computer art, Neo-Plasticism
Filed under
- Ideas
- abstraction, authorship, creativity, Cubism, Neo-Plasticism, perception
- Technologies
- computer art, oil painting
- People
- A. Michael Noll, Piet Mondrian
- Works
- Composition with Lines, Computer composition with lines
Related moments
Echoes across time
- 1964 · Computer Composition with Lines by A. Michael Noll
- 1964 · First Piece of Computer Art Criticism by Arnold Rockman and Leslie Mezei
- 2014 · Ten Questions Concerning Generative Computer Art by McCormack et al.
Le Random editorials
- A. Michael Noll on When It All Started, A. Michael Noll, March 25, 2025
- Concrete to Generative: “Real Space” Explorations in South America, Virginia Valenzuela, October 24, 2023
- Dmitri Cherniak on Strictly for Art, Peter Bauman, May 26, 2025
- Neural Unconscious, Peter Bauman, February 19, 2025
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt I (1960s) with Dr A Michael Noll — listen with transcript on Le Random (07 Sep 2023, 60 min). Featuring A. Michael Noll. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt II (1960s) with Michael Spalter — listen with transcript on Le Random (21 Sep 2023, 77 min). Transcript mentions Piet Mondrian. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- One Year of Le Random — listen with transcript on Le Random (22 Mar 2024, 59 min). Transcript mentions Piet Mondrian. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 2—Modern Era with Kate Vass — listen with transcript on Le Random (20 Jul 2023, 58 min). Chapter 2’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify