De Stijl

Started: 1917 

Ended: 1931 

Based in the Netherlands, The De Stijl movement was characterized by an abstract, pared-down style based on fundamental visual components including geometric shapes and primary colors. The decreased quality of De Stijl art was envisioned by its designers as a global visual language fit to the contemporary period, a time of a new, spiritualized world order, partly as a response against the ornamental excesses of Art Deco. De Stijl artists, led by painters Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian, adapted their approach to a wide range of mediums in the fine and applied arts, as well as beyond.

TITLE:(1922)Mechano-Dancer

Artist: Vilmos Huszar

Date accessed:09/06/22

Although this early work uses the De Stijl aesthetic's signature geometric shapes, the layering of shapes and forms, as well as the combination of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines—as well as the lack of color—reflect a different approach than the movement's leading artists, van Doesburg and Mondrian. The work's idea of a human figure – achieved by the arrangement of geometric forms and the positioning of a cube at the top, potentially suggesting a head – is also unusual in the De Stijl art.The Art Story, (“De Stijl Movement Overview”)

TITLE: Arithmetic Composition

ARTIST: Theo van Doesburg

Date Accessed: 09/06/22

Arithmetic Composition, completed near the end of van Doesburg's life, reflects the artist's experimentation with abstract geometric shapes within a diagonal composition, resulting in a three-dimensional plane that would not have the same visual effect if the blocks were arranged vertically or horizontally. The work's diagonal configuration, combination of pure positive and negative space (black forms against white background), and inclusion of a curious backward "L" in the upper left corner, which consumes one block, create a sense of movement, making the shapes appear to move toward and away from the viewer alternately.(The Art Story, “De Stijl Movement Overview”)

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