De Stijl

For the 2000 indie rock album by The White Stripes, see De Stijl (album).

De Stijl (in English generally pronounced duh-STILE; from the Dutch for "the style" – Dutch pronunciation: IPA /də stɛil/) was a Dutch artistic movement, founded in 1917. In a narrower sense, the term De Stijl is used to refer to a body of work created by a group of Dutch artists, from 1917 to 1931. De Stijl is also the name of a journal which was published by the painter and critic Theo van Doesburg, propagating the group's theories. Next to Van Doesburg, the group's principal members were the painters Piet Mondrian and Bart van der Leck, and the architects Gerrit Rietveld and J.J.P. Oud. The artistic philosophy that formed a basis for the group's work is known as neoplasticism — the new plastic art (or Nieuwe Beelding in Dutch).

Proponents of De Stijl sought to express a new utopian ideal of spiritual harmony and order. They advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour — they simplified visual compositions to the vertical and horizontal directions, and used only primary colors along with black and white.

Principles and influences

In general, De Stijl proposed ultimate simplicity and abstraction, both in architecture and painting, by using only straight (horizontal and vertical) lines and rectangular forms. The colour palette was reduced to the primary colours red, yellow and blue. Black, white and grey were used as well. The works avoided symmetry and attained aesthetic balance by the use of opposition.

In many of the group's three-dimensional works, vertical and horizontal lines are positioned in layers or planes that do not intersect, thereby allowing each element to exist independently and unobstructed by other elements. This feature can be found in the Rietveld Schröder House and the Red and blue chair.

De Stijl movement was influenced by Cubist painting, as well as by the mysticism and the ideas about 'ideal' geometric forms (such as 'the perfect straight line') in the neoplatonic philosophy of the mathematician M. H. J. Schoenmaekers. The works of De Stijl would influence the Bauhaus style and the international style of architecture, as well as clothing and interior design.

In music, De Stijl was only an influence on the work of the composer Jakob van Domselaer, a close friend of Mondrian. Between 1913 and 1916 he composed his Proeven van Stijlkunst, inspired mainly by Mondrian's painting. This minimalistic and, at the time, revolutionary music defined 'horizontal' and 'vertical' musical elements, and aimed at balancing those two principles. Van Domselaer was relatively unknown in his lifetime, and did not play a significant role within De Stijl group.

History

Early history

From the flurry of new art movements that followed the Impressionists' revolutionary new perception of painting, Cubism arose in the early twentieth century as an important and influential new direction. In the Netherlands, too, there was great interest in this 'new art'.

However, because the Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, Dutch artists were not able to leave the country after 1914, and were thus effectively isolated from the international art world, and in particular from Paris, which was at that time its centre.

During that period, the painter Theo van Doesburg started looking for other artists to set up a journal and start an art movement. Van Doesburg was also a writer, poet and critic, who had been more successful writing about art than working as an independent artist. Quite adept at making new contacts, due to his flamboyant personality and outgoing nature, he had many useful connections in the art world.

Founding of De Stijl

Around 1915, Van Doesburg started meeting the artists that would eventually become the founders of the journal. He first met Piet Mondrian at an exhibition in the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum. Mondrian, who had moved to Paris in 1912 (and there changed his name from "Mondriaan"), had been visiting Holland when war broke out. He could not return to Paris, and was staying in the artists community of Laren, where he met Bart van der Leck, and regularly saw M. H. J. Schoenmaekers. In 1915, Schoenmaekers published Het nieuwe wereldbeeld ('The New Image of the World'), followed in 1916 by Beginselen der beeldende wiskunde ('Principles of Plastic Mathematics'). These two publications would greatly influence Mondrian and other members of De Stijl.

Van Doesburg also knew J.J.P. Oud and the Hungarian artist Vilmos Huszàr. In 1917, the cooperation of these artists, together with the poet Anthony Kok, resulted in the founding of De Stijl. The young architect Gerrit Rietveld joined the group in 1918.

During those first few years, the group was still relatively homogeneous, although Van der Leck left in 1918 due to artistic differences of opinion. 'Manifestos' were being published, signed by all members. The social and economic circumstances of the time formed an important source of inspiration for their theories. Their ideas about architecture were heavily influenced by Berlage and Frank Lloyd Wright.

The name Nieuwe Beelding was a term first coined in 1917 by Mondrian, who wrote a series of twelve articles called De Nieuwe Beelding in de schilderkunst, that were published in the journal De Stijl. In 1920 he published a book titled Le Neo-Plasticisme.

After 1920

Around 1921, the group's character started to change. From the time of Van Doesburg's association with Bauhaus, other influences started playing a role. These influences were mainly Malevich and Russian Constructivism, to which not all members agreed. In 1923 Mondrian and Van Doesburg had a falling-out. In addition, De Stijl group acquired many new 'members'. Dadaist influences, such as I.K.Bonset's poetry and Aldo Camini's 'anti-philosophy' generated controversy as well. Only after Van Doesburg's death it was revealed that Bonset and Camini were two of his pseudonyms.

After Van Doesburg's death

Theo van Doesburg died in Davos in 1931. His wife Nelly administered his estate.

Because of Van Doesburg's pivotal role within De Stijl, the group did not survive. Individual members remained in contact, but De Stijl could not exist without a strong central character. Thus it may be wrong to think of De Stijl as a close-knit group of artists. The members knew each other, but most communication took place by letter. For example, Mondrian and Rietveld never met in person.

Many, though not all, artists did stay true to the movement's basic ideas, even after 1931. Rietveld, for instance, continued designing furniture according to De Stijl principles, while Mondrian continued working in the style he had initiated around 1920. Van der Leck, on the other hand, went back to figurative compositions after his departure from the group.

Influence on architecture

De Stijl influence on architecture remained considerable, long after 1931. Mies van der Rohe was among the most important proponents of its ideas. Between 1923 and 1924, Rietveld designed the Rietveld Schröder House, the only building to have been created completely according to De Stijl principles. Examples of Stijl-influenced works by J.J.P. Oud can be found in Rotterdam (Café De Unie) and Hoek van Holland.

Present day

Nowadays De Stijl is considered to be one of the most important Dutch contributions to art. Ironically, while its proponents' aim was to create an 'international' style, De Stijl is often seen as typically Dutch.

Works of De Stijl members are scattered all over the world, but De Stijl-themed exhibitions are organised regularly. Museums with large De Stijl collections include the Gemeentemuseum at The Hague, which owns the world's most extensive (although not exclusively De Stijl-related)) Mondrian collection, and the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum, where many works by Rietveld and Van Doesburg are on display. The Centraal Museum of Utrecht has the largest Rietveld collection worldwide. It also owns the Rietveld Schröder House, Rietveld's adjacent 'show house', and the Rietveld Schröder Archives.

List of neoplasticists

This list is not exhaustive. Because of the loose associations many artists had with De Stijl, it is difficult to get a complete overview of contributors.

Max Bill (1908 – 1994) architect and designer
Ilya Bolotowsky (1907 – 1981) painter
Burgoyne Diller (1906 – 1965) painter
Theo van Doesburg (1883 – 1931) painter, designer and writer, published "De Stijl " 1917 – 1931
Cornelis van Eesteren (1897 – 1981) architect
Jean Gorin (1899 – 1981) painter
Robert van't Hoff (1887 – 1979) architect
Vilmos Huszàr (1884 – 1960) painter
Anthony Kok (1882 – 1969) poet
Bart van der Leck (1876 – 1958) painter
Piet Mondrian (1872 – 1944) painter
Marlow Moss (1890 – 1958) painter and sculptor
J.J.P. Oud (1890 – 1963) architect
Amédée Ozenfant (1886 – 1966) painter
Gerrit Rietveld (1888 – 1964) architect
Georges Vantongerloo (1886 – 1965) sculptor
Jan Wils (1891 – 1972) architect

References

Blotkamp, Carel (ed.): De beginjaren van De Stijl 1917-1922 (Utrecht: Reflex, 1982)
Blotkamp, Carel (ed.): De vervolgjaren van De Stijl 1922-1932 (Amsterdam: Veen, 1996)
Jaffé, H.L.C. De Stijl, 1917-1931, The Dutch Contribution to Modern Art, 1st edition (Amsterdam: J.M. Meulenhoff, 1956)
Overy, Paul: De Stijl, 1st edition (London: Studio Vista, 1969)
White, Michael: De Stijl and Dutch Modernism (Manchester ^*: Manchester University Press, 2003)

Trivia

The second album of the American rock band The White Stripes is called De Stijl. The band's members, Jack White and Meg White are admirers of the movement.
The third act of Dutch composer Louis Andriessen's opera De Materie is named De Stijl, and has Mondrian and the movement as its subject matter. The piece is structured around a 'reading' of Mondrian's painting Compositie met rood, geel en blauw (1927).

External links

Scans of the complete first volume of the journal De Stijl
Essay about Mondrian and mysticism
Rare recording of Jakob van Domselaer's Proeven van Stijlkunst.

Modern art | Architectural styles | Dutch architecture | De Stijl

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