ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that visualization can be used to produce scholarship that develops traditional art-historical debate. The visualization process was carried out in four stages simply described as the collection of source material, the analysis of source material, the construction of the model and finally the analysis of the result. The concept of paradata as visualization outcome is crucial for forming these arguments because the process of model building rather than the final digital output is what stimulates inquiry. Dissemination of these paradata is thus needed as it provides transparency for the digital model, but also forms part of the argument itself. Art-historical paradata are generated by assessing general trends in Piet Mondrian's art practice and applying them to the model. In the Départ studio, Mondrian made use of smaller objects such as boxes, ashtrays and books to complete the composition. Départ studio show how Mondrian conceived plastically expressed objects as a means realizing a total composition.
