Examples

Piet Mondrian, Square Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue, 1921-1925

Bart van der Leck, Composition, 1918-1920

Theo van Doesburg, Color Construction: Project for a Private House, 1923

The Basics

The Netherlands, 1917 - 1931

France & Germany, then spread to Poland, Italy, Great Britain, U.S.

Neoplasticism - aesthetic philosophy

Spread via periodic publication titled De Stijl, begun by Theo van Doesburg

Based on an ideology of universality

World Timeline

1914-1918, World War I - Mostly Europe

1905-1920, Expressionism - Germany

1915-1919, Suprematism - Russia

1919-1934, Constructivism - Russia

Common goal of post-war artists - to work through the arts to achieve an ideal future, when all the walls that separate men would be broken down and when society would be truly integrated and capable of constructing a utopian urban environment of abstract forms.

The Netherlands During WWI

Neutral, although continuous pressure from both sides to join

1917 – universal male suffrage, proportional representation

Long history of trade interdependence

Depression early 1920’s – 1925 due to dependence on Germany

De Stijl - reaction to chaos and destruction of War

Ideology

Theosophist virtues of Mondrian as platform

Sought to set the stage for a new social order

Pure and good design came from pure abstraction of the visual - primary colors and straight lines

Hoped that the modern urban environment would one day be transformed into an abstract, aesthetically balanced composition refelcting the new social era they envisioned

Insisted on an uncompromisingly severe stylistic purity - considered their principles to be morally justifiable as agents of social reform

As a Movement

“De Stijl” chosen for allusion to a single stylistic credo to which they would all subscribe

Cohesive only in the sense that those involved shared a common set of ethical and aesthetic principles at one time or another between 1917 and 1932

Came to the same standard seperately, continued with varied interests

Characteristically “De Stijl” from collaborative efforts

Piet Mondrian-Before Dutch, born 1872

First painted still lifes and landscape

1911 - emphasis on composition, full simple rhythms, 2-3 colors

Interest in Theosophy - synthesizes science, religion and philosophy in pursuit of ultimate truth

Used abstract visual language to represent universal harmony

Analytic cubist, replacing real froms with geometric visualized theosophyic concepts

Eventually moved to full abstraction

Piet Mondrian, Apple Tree in Bloom, 1912

Piet Mondrian, Windmill in the Sun, 1908

Piet Mondrian, The Red Tree, 1908

Piet Mondrian, Composition #6, 1914

Piet Mondrian of De Stijl

The source of philosophy and visual form

Neoplasticism - primary colors, right angles, straight lines on white background

Stuck to the rules

Believed true reality was established through balance of unequal but equivalent oppositions

Continued in the same style after the end of the movement

Piet Mondrian, Composition III with Colored Planes, 1917

Piet Mondrian, Composition with lines, 1917

Piet Mondrian, Composition, 1922 Piet Mondrian, Composition with two lines, 1931

Piet Mondrian, New York City I, 1942 Piet Mondrian, Broadway Boogie-Woogie, 1942-43

After the Movement

The ReviewCovered all areas – architecture, painting, sculpture, environmental planning, etc.

Incorporated influences of artist all over – did not have the same aesthetic limits as neoplasticism

1st issue – Oct 1917, after meeting with Mondrian, Bart van der Leck, Vilmos Huszar, Georges Vantongerloo, Jan Wils, Antony Kok, Robert van’t Hoff, Johannes Pieter Oud, later Gerrit Rietveld.

Many believed foundation of movement to be Mondrian’s “De Nieuwe Beelding in de Schiderkunst” (New Plastics in Painting)

Theo van Doesburg, cover for De Stijl, 1923

Manifesto included in intro

1. There is an old and a new consiousness of the age. THe old one is directed towards the individual. THe new one is directed towards the universal. The struffle of the individual against the universal may be seen both in the world war and in modern art.

2. The war is destroying the old world with its content: individual predominacne in every field.

3. The new art has brought to light that which is contained in the new consiousness of the age: a relationship of equality between teh univeral and the individual.

6. Therefore the founders of the new culture call upon all who believe in reform of art and culture to destroy these obstacles to development, jsut as in teh plastic arts - by doing away with natural form- they ahve eliminated that which stood in the way of pure artistic expression, the logical conclusion of every artistic concept.

Theo van Doesburg

Founder and guiding spirit of movement and magazine

Born Christian Emil Kupper 1883, adopted painter name from stepfather

Capabilites revealed in publishing activities

Traveled through Europe, interacting with many artists

Involvement in other movements, like Dada

Transfer of principles to 3D environment

Elementarism - dynamic tension via the diagonal

Theo van Doesburg, Simultaneous Counter-Composition, 1929

Theo van Doesburg, Composition IV, 1917, stained glass

Theo van Doesburg, Countercomposition V, 1924

Theo van Doesburg, Arithmetical Composition, 1930

Theo van Doesburg, Color Design for Amsterdam Universtity Hall, 1923

Theo van Doesburg, Cinema-Dance Hall, Cafe Aubette, Strasbourg, 1926-28

Bart van der Leck

Left movement after first issue of De Stijl, disagreed with van Doesburg’s theoretical positions

Van der Leck, Composition 1917-4 known as Leaving the Factory, 1917

Van der Leck, Batavier Line Poster, 1916

Van der Leck, Mine Triptych, 1916

J.J.P. Oud

Architect, one of the founders

Municipal housing architect for Rotterdam 1918 to 1933

Socially progressive residential projects

J.J.P. Oud, Elevation of the Cafe De Unie, 1925 J.J.P. Oud, Project for a Factory in Purmerend, 1919

J.J.P. Oud, Small, semi-permanent house in Rotterdam, 1923

J.J.P. Oud, Workers Housing Development Hoek van Holland, 1924

Vilmos Huszar

Vilmos Huszar, Color Applications, Bedroom of Bruynzeel House, Voorburg, 1918-19

Vilmos Huszar, Spatial Color Composition in Gray, Brugman House, THe Hague, 1924

Architect

Completely abstract by 1917

Like Doesburg, wanted to transfer color and structure practice to architecture

Problem of the corner- used color to compositionally unite surfaces- to create an uninterrupted visual experience dictated by color rather than architecture

Vilmos Huszar and Gerrit Rietveld, Spatial Composition for an Exhibition, Berlin, 1923

Gerrit Rietveld

Trained as a cabinet maker and jeweler

1919 - joined De Stijl and became an architect

Best realized the ideas of De Stijl

Complete abstraction of a chair - reduced to its fundamental structure

Schroder House - sliding walls on top floor

Gerrit Rietveld, Red and Blue Chair, 1917

Gerrit Rietveld, Schroder House, Utrecht, 1924

Differences

Mondrian and Doesburg - use of diagonal, against neoplasticism - importance of affecting spatial realm

Real image reference vs. total abstraction

Involvement in other movements

Theo van Doesburg and Kurt Schwitters, “Kleine Dada Soiree” poster, 1922

Relations with other movements

Dada - Manifestation of a desire to join art and life

Expressionism - viewed abstract designs as proposals for the future

Constructivism - new form of utopian architecture - projects for the affirmations of the new

Lasting Impression

Huge influence on modern architecture

Asymmetry

Strict use of the grid in graphic design

Ultimate basic representation to initiate mental image -logo design

Examples Today