De Stijl / Neoplasticism

Piet Mondrian, Composition No. 2, 1922

The de Stihl movement, also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch based art movement. Theo van Doesburg (1883 - 1931) was a key founder of the de Stijl movement. Van Doesburg founded the movement by attempting to join an alliance of artists into a single group. The group published a journal named after the movement to act as an outlet for their ideas. Piet Mondrian (1872 - 1944) was another leading founder of the group and published a manifesto titled Neoplasticism in 1920. The function of de Stijl art was to represent a simplistic harmony, which is the opposite of reality. De Stijl attempted to redecorate the world and in turn reject "primitive" organic nature.

De Stijl (which is Dutch for "The Style") falls under the category of abstract art, because it doesn't directly represent the concrete world. The Style was not limited to painting, but explored architecture and sculpture. The movement advocated pure abstraction and simplicity. The art was reduced to the fundamental elements of art - geometric shapes, horizontal and vertical lines and the use of only grays, black, white and primary colors. Rather than representing reality, de Stijl artists used these simple elements to create a technically constructed harmonious work that opposed reality. If reality ever reached harmony, art would have no function.

The alliance believed that ideal balance could be achieved by using proportions between:

The dimension of the colored shapes
The ratio of colored and uncolored forms
The ratio of closed and open shapes

Gerrit Rietveld, Red and Blue Chair, 1917

In Mondrian's piece, Composition No.2 (1922), Mondrian creates a universal style. With the elimination of metaphorical elements, Mondrian establishes a new language by reducing the image to its basics. The artwork is "purified". In Composition No.2 Mondrian uses closed and open forms and lines to create spaces. The image seems to have a three dimensional effect, as the colored spaces sit visually in the foreground. The image has no border and extends into the world outside of the painting. Each element of the image works with every other to create a harmonious balance.

One accomplished architect and designer of the de Stijl group was Gerrit Rietveld (1888 - 1964). He was fundamental to the design and development of the Schröder House in 1924 in the Netherlands. The principles of the design of the house as well as the colors and interior wall furnishings are based on the theories proposed by Mondrian in Neoplasticism and by the de Stijl movemement. The Schröder house rejects the idea of luxuries and instead creates a simplistic, beautiful totality.

By 1931, van Doesburg began a new movement and abandoned de Stijl. With his departure the group fell apart and the magazine, de Stijl, died. However, although dead as a group, The Style continued to be influential on the Bauhaus and on international style and through these movements continues to be influential to this day.