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De Stijl - 'The Style'
1917 - 1932
De Stijl - 'The Style', also known as Neoplacticism was an art movement founded by 2 pioneering Dutch abstract artists, Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. Originally a publication, De Stijl, was a magazine in which the artists presented their ideas on art and abstraction. De Stijl soon became an established movement which advocated a visual language consisting of precise, geometric forms. Straight lines, squares, rectangles and primary colours, along with black, grey and white, all arranged in a grid format. It was pure abstraction.
De Stijl art was seen as a universal visual language which fit with what its artists wanted for the modern era: a new, spiritualised world order.
Neo-plasticism
Piet Mondrian came up with the term “de nieuwe beelding”, which became known internationally as Neo-plasticism.
He saw Neo-plasticism as an ideal art in which the basic elements of painting were used in their purest and most fundamental state. Only primary colours, non-colours, squares, rectangles, straight, horizontal and vertical lines were used.
Disagreements Between Mondrian and Van Doesburg
Mondrian famously withdrew from De Stijl in 1923, outraged at Van Doesburg’s adoption of diagonal elements in his work. Van Doesburg wanted to add more energy to the movement and had developed Elementarism, with which he attempted to modify Mondrian’s Neo-plasticism by introducing the diagonal. Mondrian refused to accept this break with purity and precision.
Piet Mondrian’s Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1930
This is one of Mondrian’s artworks in his Composition series, and represents the height of Mondrian’s purity and sobriety in his art. Thick black lines cut between colour fields, creating squares and rectangles of only primary colours and non-colours.
Piet Mondrian, Composition II in blue red yellow, 1930
Images source - https://www.magazine-artland.com/art.movement.de.stijl/
[accessed 4 February 2023]
Theo van Doesburg’s Counter Composition V, 1924
Van Doesburg began introducing his Counter Compositions in 1924. These signature works embodied his desire to move beyond the constrictions of De Stijl by introducing diagonal lines. In this Counter Composition V, he also added a grey triangle to the otherwise strictly primary colours and non-colours.
Theo van Doesburg, Counter Composition V, 1924
Images source - https://www.magazine-artland.com/art.movement.de.stijl/
[accessed 4 February 2023]
De Stijl significantly shaped other art movements. In fact, several of the members of De Stijl, including Theo van Doesburg, taught at the Bauhaus. Therefore, it had a major influence on Bauhaus architecture and design. Furthermore, the geometric visual language and the idea of form following function made a significant impact on the architectural movement from the ‘20s and ‘30s known as The International Style.
De Stijl has been referenced widely throughout pop culture and has been incorporated into high fashion by Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 Mondrian Dress and Prada’s 2011 AW Collection.
The album cover shown below cleverly utilizes the Dutch art style of the same name.
The White Stripes, Album cover, 2000
Images source - https://www.powerpopoverdose.blogspot.com/2010/07/white-stripes-de-stijl-2000.html
[accessed 4 February 2023]
The movement was all about harmony through order, pure abstraction by stripping a design down to its simplest forms; shown here by way of contrasting horizontal and vertical lines in primary colours and with black and white.
This is an art movement that continues to translate into all creative fields, even today.
References -
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https:///tate.org.uk/art/artists/piet-mondrian-1651/mondrian-guide-life
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https://theculturetrip.com/europe/the-netherlands/articles/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-de-stijl/
