Stijl, de (də stīl) [Du.,=the style], Dutch nonfigurative art movement, also called neoplasticism. In 1917 a group of artists, architects, and poets was organized under the name de Stijl, and a journal of the same name was initiated. The leaders of the movement were the artists Theo van Doesburg Doesburg, Theo van (tā`ō vän d
..... Click the link for more information. and Piet Mondrian Mondrian, Piet (pēt môn`drēän), 1872–1944, Dutch painter.
..... Click the link for more information. . They advocated a purification of art, eliminating subject matter in favor of vertical and horizontal elements, and the use of primary colors and noncolors. Their austerity of expression influenced architects, principally J. J. P. Oud Oud, Jacobus Johannes Pieter (yäkō`bəs yōhä`nəs pē`tər out), 1890–1963, Dutch architect.
..... Click the link for more information. and Gerrit Rietveld Rietveld, Gerrit Thomas (gĕrĭt` tō`məs rēt`fĕlt), 1888–1965, Dutch architect and furniture designer.
..... Click the link for more information. . The movement lasted until 1931; in architecture a few de Stijl principles are still applied.

Bibliography

See study by H. L. C. Jaffé (1968).

Stijl, De

(Dutch; The Style)

“Card Players,” oil painting by De Stijl artist Theo van Doesburg, 1917; in the …

(credit: Courtesy of the Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague)

Group of Dutch artists founded in 1917, including Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian. The group advocated a utopian style: “the universal harmony of life.” Its ideal of purity and order in life and society as well as art reflects the Calvinist background of its members. Through its journal, De Stijl (1917–31), it influenced painting, the decorative arts (including furniture design), typography, and especially architecture, where its aesthetic found expression at the Bauhaus and in the International Style.