De Stijl

De Stijl (Dutch for "The Style") also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists, architects and designers brought together by Theo van Doesburg. In a narrower sense, the term De Stijl is used to refer to works from 1917 to c.1924 founded in the Netherlands. Proponents of De Stijl advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour; they simplified visual compositions to vertical and horizontal, using only black, white and primary colors. The movement's influence was immense, and continues to affect artists, designers and architects today.
== Motivation ==
In Mondrian's opinion, only abstract art can show the harmony behind what's visible. He explored and refined his conception of pure colour and form his work and writings, becoming one of the most important artists of the 1st half of the 20th century and an important touchstone for all abstract artists.
In the year this art movements was founded, there was still a war going on. With De Stijl, people longed for a world of inner peace, harmony and order, instead of the everyday chaos. The mission of artists of this movement was to create a new art in the spirit of peace and harmony. They believed that the reduction, the purification, of art (for, colour and line) would in turn lead to a renewal of society, and that when art was fully integrated into life it would no longer be necessary.
== Art==
Artists wanted to break the age-old tradition of art needing a clear presentation. They did not want to paint what was in front of them, for example a landscape, but they wanted to paint their feelings and thoughts.Explanation from Malevich And for them, that was best done by extreme simplicity and abstraction. They also argued that while a realistic painting shows reality, it does not show the truth.Brancusi's argument
De Stijl paintings are composed of horizontal and vertical lines, right angles, and rectangular or square surfaces of flat colours. The palette is reduced to primary colours of red, yellow and blue, and the neutral colours of white, black and grey.
Composition VII- The Three Graces, by Theo van Doesburg, 1917, oil on canvas.jpeg|Composition VII: The Three Graces, by Theo van Doesburg, 1917, oil on canvas
Composition en couleur A, by Piet Mondrian, 1917, oil on canvas.jpeg|Composition en couleur A, by Piet Mondrian, 1917, oil on canvas
Composition VIII (The Cow), by Theo van Doesburg, circa 1918, oil on canvas.jpeg|Composition VIII (The Cow), by Theo van Doesburg, c.1918, oil on canvas
Composition with Red Blue and Yellow, by Piet Mondrian, 1930, oil on canvas.jpeg|Composition with Red Blue and Yellow, by Piet Mondrian, 1930, oil on canvas
== Architecture ==
Architects wanted to "start from zero" with this movement, to break away from designing 'old-fashioned' houses. De Stijl architcture is similar with paintings of this aesthetic. It shows a similar clarity, austerity and order, taking the geometric abstraction of straight lines, right angles and clean surfaces in 3D. Gerrit Rietveld's Shröder House in Utrecht, the Netherlands (1924) is in many ways the masterpiece of the whole De Stijl movement.
Features of De Stijl architecture:
* Open structure
* Use of horizontal and vertical forms
* No decoration
* Sliding walls
* No clear room lay-out
* No thought for privacy
== Notable artists ==
* Piet Mondrian
* Gerrit Rietveld
* Theo van Doesburg
* Bart van der Leck
* Georges Vantongerloo
==Revivals==
Out of all the De Stijl artists, Piet Mondrian is without any doubt the most famous. His paintings with white, black and primary colored-rectangles are very iconic. Because of this, they inspired multiple designers in created objects and fashion that remind us of these paintings.
‘Mondrian’ dress, designed by Yves Saint Laurent and manufactured by Bianchini-Férier, 1965, silk crêpe, lined with crêpe-de-Chine.jpeg|‘Mondrian’ dress, designed by Yves Saint Laurent and manufactured by Bianchini-Férier, 1965, silk crêpe, lined with crêpe-de-Chine
Piet Mondrian SB Dunks, unknown designer, launched in May 2008, unknown materials.jpeg|Piet Mondrian SB Dunks, unknown designer, launched in May 2008, unknown materials
Mondrian tumblers from MoMA, by Arteum, circa 2008, glass.png|Mondrian tumblers from MoMA, by Arteum, c.2008, glass
Screenshot from Katy Perry's This Is How We Do music video, 2013.jpeg|Screenshot from Katy Perry's This Is How We Do music video, 2013
== References ==
* "Bespiegeling" (art book for school) written by J. Groenendijk, E. Heijnen, S. Keuning, M. Maas
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