De Stijl

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 DoesburgDoesburg, Theo van
, 1883–1931, Dutch painter, teacher, and writer. Together with Mondrian he founded the magazine De Stijl and successfully proselytized in Europe for the new aesthetic of abstraction, simplicity, clarity, and harmony.
..... Click the link for more information. and Piet MondrianMondrian, Piet
, 1872–1944, Dutch painter. He studied at the academy in Amsterdam and passed through an early naturalistic phase. In 1910 he went to Paris, where the influence of cubism stimulated the development of his geometric, nonobjective style, which he called
..... 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. OudOud, Jacobus Johannes Pieter
, 1890–1963, Dutch architect. Oud's interest in abstract painting led him to conceive of buildings composed in terms of pure planes. With several painters, including Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, he became associated with the influential
..... Click the link for more information. and Gerrit RietveldRietveld, Gerrit Thomas
, 1888–1965, Dutch architect and furniture designer. At first a cabinetmaker, Rietveld created (c.1917) a chair that was an important contribution to modern furniture design.
..... 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).

De Stijl

Term meaning “The Style,” derived from the name of a group of Dutch artists and the journal founded by the painter Theo van Doesberg in 1917; other members of the group included Piet Mondrian, Reitveld, and Oud. It was influenced by Cubism, and proposed an abstracted expression divorced from nature; instead, advocating straight lines, pure planes, right angles, and primary colors. It had a profound influence on the Bauhaus movement.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

De Stijl

an avant-garde group of Dutch architects and artists that was founded in Leiden in 1917 around the journal De Stijl (1917–28). The group disbanded in 1931.

The De Stijl artists advanced neoplasticism, that is, the rejection of the representational, social, and cognitive tasks of art and the turning to pure forms, generalized to the maximum degree. In painting the style led to a geometric form of abstract art, as seen in the works of P. Mondrian, T. van Doesburg (the group’s organizer and theorist), and B. van der Leck. The architectural style of De Stijl was marked by strict mathematical measurements and ascetically precise spatial composition; these qualities especially distinguish the designs of van Doesburg, J. J. P. Oud, and G. Rietveld. De Stijl architecture to some extent influenced the development of functionalism.

REFERENCES

Modernizm (2nd ed.). Moscow, 1973. Pages 130–38.
Jaffé, H. L. C. De Stijl, 1917–1931. The Dutch Contribution to Modern Art. Amsterdam, 1956.

de Stijl

An architectural movement from about 1917 to 1931, which originated in The Netherlands, that placed emphasis on functionalism, rationalism, and current methods of construction, in contrast to historical precedent and traditional methods of construction. This movement had a significant influence on the development of Modern architecture.

References in periodicals archive ?

24, and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of de Stijl, many buildings are decked out in Mondrian-style blocks of color in The Hague and Leiden.

De Stijl, the movement of Mondrian, turns 100

Those reds, blues and yellows make a De Stijl birthday party of the Hague's skyline as public buildings sport giant Mondrian decorations.

Mondrian's quest for spiritual salvation

Este ideal comecou a emergir na decada de 1920 na Bauhaus, como a confluencia dos movimentos Construtivista e De Stijl, que encerravam em si a bagagem das vanguardas que os precederam.

Contributions of new typography and international style for building visual hierarchy of information/Contribuicopes da nova tipografia e do estilo internacional para a hierarquizacao visual da informacao

Among members of Cercle et carre were representatives of all the abstract trends of the time, ranging from the most radical option practiced by the De Stijl artists such as Mondrian, to purists such as Leger or Ozenfant; and from painters who did not completely reject figuration like Torres-Garcia, to artists who felt an affinity with Surrealism such as Arp or Kurt Schwitters.