De Stijl
by Yasmine Saidou, BK8VK5WM8
The De Stijl Movement, which translates to "The Style" in Dutch, started as an art journal in 1917 (Flask, 2018). Theo van Doesburg was the founder of this journal and it was a collection of contemporary works representing a spiritual harmony (Wolf, 2018). It was aimed at artists who believed in expressing a harmonious utopia and provided the foundation of the movement itself (Wolf, 2018).
The overall aesthetic of the movement was the use of simple, geometric shapes and primary colours in order to achieve a sort of harmony in the piece (Wolf, 2018). A key principle of De Stijl was to strip the subject matter down to the most basic of shapes and colours (Flask, 2018). It rejected the overtly decorated principles of Art Deco by placing heavy emphasis on the theory of order through simplicity (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2014). The movement was also reacted to post WWI societal issues; the practitioners made it their mission to revive social and spiritual morale by using their art to help people envisage a harmonious and orderly utopia (Wolf, 2018).
Victory Boogie Woogie. Artwork by Piet Mondrian (Victory Boogie-Woogie, 2018)
The above image is of the artwork titled "Victory Boogie-Woogie" by perhaps the most famous of the De Stijl painters, Piet Mondrian. Here we see the principles of De Stijl being applied; the use of basic geometry and colours to portray the subject matter.
Mondrian Inspired Wall Hanging (Vlak, 2014)
The above image is of artwork that was inspired by Piet Mondrian. Pages of a Dutch magazine were whitened out and overlaid with wooden slats, household sponges were then added for the colour segments (Vlak, 2014).
The contemporary artist used the principles of De Stijl in order to create a piece where the focus was on the resulting visual harmony.
Sources
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2014). De Stijl | art. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/De-Stijl-art [Accessed 21 Aug. 2018].
Flask, D. (2018). De Stijl : Design Is History. [online] Designishistory.com. Available at: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/de-stijl/ [Accessed 21 Aug. 2018].
Victory Boogie- Woogie. (2018). [image] Available at: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a8/2a/e0/a82ae05f769bdf88891a3745f7d190d2.jpg [Accessed 24 Aug. 2018].
Vlak, I. (2014). Mondrian Inspired Wall Hanging. [image] Available at: http://www.irenevlak.com/uploads/3/4/0/0/34008876/6326046_orig.jpg [Accessed 24 Aug. 2018].
Vlak, I. (2014). Mondrian Inspired Wall Hanging. [image] Available at: http://www.irenevlak.com/uploads/3/4/0/0/34008876/6326046_orig.jpg [Accessed 24 Aug. 2018].
Wolf, J. (2018). De Stijl Movement, Artists and Major Works. [online] The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement-de-stijl.htm [Accessed 21 Aug. 2018].
