The Dutch painter Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), who began his career painting delicate landscapes, became one of the most avant-garde and innovative artists of the last century. The film examines key paintings in detail. Interviews with a wide range of scholars and experts reveal how Mondrian created an art that was abstract without being merely decorative, and that was full of content without being figurative. The film demonstrates how he believed that his theories in art were a model for a future perfect society. These theories were so pervasive that they dominated his lifestyle as well as his art: his studio, for example, was sparsely furnished with pieces of furniture made out of wooden crates placed in rigorous patterns. The final section includes contributions from photographer Arnold Newman and Jason Holtzman of the Mondrian-Holtzman Trust. They discuss Mondrian's move to New York in 1940 where he celebrated the city and his passion for jazz music in his famous painting entitled Broadway Boogie-Woogie.