de Stijl

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Stijl, De (Dutch: ‘The Style'). The name of an organization of mainly Dutch artists founded in 1917 and of the journal they published to promote their ideas. It was a very loose association (the ‘members’ did not exhibit together and some of them scarcely knew each other) and it was held together mainly by Theo van Doesburg, who was a tireless propagandist for its ideas. The other ‘collaborators’ (in Dutch medewerkers) were, like van Doesburg, principally painters (notably Huszár, van der Leck, and Mondrian), but they also included the sculptor Vantongerloo and several architects, among them Gerrit Rietveld(1888–1964), who is now perhaps best known for his furniture designs. Their common aim was to find laws of equilibrium and harmony that would be applicable to life and society as well as art, and the style associated with De Stijl was one of austere abstract clarity (see NEO-PLASTICISM). As George Heard Hamilton writes, ‘They wanted to create a style appropriate for every aspect of contemporary life, one so coherent, so intelligible, and so complete that the distinctions between art and life would eventually be erased when everything produced by human agencies, from teacups to town plans, would participate in a universal visual and intellectual harmony'.

The journal was founded by van Doesburg and Mondrian in Leiden in 1917 and van Doesburg continued to edit it until 1928 (it appeared roughly monthly, but irregularly; the place of publication—befitting van Doesburg's peripatetic career—also varied, the editorial offices at one time being in Weimar). It rarely sold more than about 300 copies, but its circulation was widespread. A final issue (no. 90) was published by Mme van Doesburg in memory of her husband, after whose death in 1931 the association disbanded. At first the journal was devoted to the principles of Neo-Plasticism, but in 1921 van Doesburg welcomed Dadaists such as Arp+ and Schwitters as contributors and later edited a Dadaist supplement called Mécano (4 issues, 1922–3). Mondrian did not contribute to the De Stijl after 1924, and soon afterwards dissociated himself from the group because of van Doesburg's launching of a splinter movement that he called Elementarism.

By this time van Doesburg had also quarrelled with most of his original collaborators, but despite the lack of cohesion, De Stijl was probably the most influential of the many avant-garde publications in Europe between the two world wars. It was influential on artistic practice as well as theory, but it was in architecture and the applied arts (including furniture design and typography), rather than in painting and sculpture, that it had its greatest impact. This is seen particularly in the work of the Bauhaus and in the clean-lined architectural style known as ‘International Modern’ (see MODERN MOVEMENT), of which Rietveld's Schroder House in Utrecht (1924) is an early and famous example. George Heard Hamilton writes that ‘Of all the movements of the twentieth century De Stijl has seemed the most doctrinaire and at first glance the least accessible, yet ultimately and paradoxically it may have been the most influential. Modern architecture has been in large measure shaped by the basic principles and examples of De Stijl; in painting and sculpture its geometrical tradition has never been negligible, however often it may momentarily have been eclipsed by contrary tendencies.’

Stijl, De (Dutch: ‘the style’). The name of a group of mainly Dutch artists founded in Leiden in 1917 and of the journal they published to set forth their ideas. It was a very loose association, held together mainly by Theo van Doesburg. The other members were, like him, mainly painters (Mondrian was the most important), but they also included the sculptor Georges Vantongerloo and the architect and designer Gerald Rietveld (1888–1964). Their common aim was to find laws of equilibrium and harmony that would be applicable to life and society as well as art, and their style was one of austere abstract clarity (see Neo-Plasticism). The journal was founded by van Doesburg and Mondrian in 1917 and van Doesburg continued to edit it until 1928 (it appeared roughly monthly, but irregularly; the place of publication—befitting van Doesburg's peripatetic career—also varied). A final issue (number 90) was published in 1932 by Mme van Doesburg in memory of her husband, after whose death in 1931 the group disbanded. At first the journal was devoted exclusively to Neo-Plasticism, but a Dadaist element crept in. Mondrian ceased to contribute to De Stijl after 1924 and in 1926 van Doesburg published the manifesto of a splinter movement that he called Elementarism. Despite this lack of cohesion, De Stijl was probably the most influential of the many avant-garde publications in Europe between the two wars. It was, however, in architecture and the applied arts (including furniture design and typography), rather than painting and sculpture, that it had its greatest influence—notably at the Bauhaus and in the clean-lined architectural style known as ‘International Modern’, of which Rietveld's Schröder House in Utrecht (1924) is an early and famous example.

Stijl, De (Dutch: ‘The Style’). The name of a group of mainly Dutch artists founded in Leiden in 1917 and of the journal they published to set forth their ideas. It was a very loose association, held together mainly by Theo van Doesburg. The other members were, like him, mainly painters (Mondrian was the most important), but they also included the sculptor Georges Vantongerloo and the architect and designer Gerald Rietveld (1888–1964). Their common aim was to find laws of equilibrium and harmony that would be applicable to life and society as well as art, and their style was one of austere abstract clarity (see Neo-Plasticism). The journal was founded by van Doesburg and Mondrian in 1917 and van Doesburg continued to edit it until 1928 (it appeared roughly monthly, but irregularly; the place of publication—befitting van Doesburg's peripatetic career—also varied). A final issue (number 90) was published in 1932 by Mme van Doesburg in memory of her husband, after whose death in 1931 the group disbanded. At first the journal was devoted exclusively to Neo-Plasticism, but a Dadaist element crept in. Mondrian ceased to contribute to De Stijl after 1924 and in 1926 van Doesburg published the manifesto of a splinter movement that he called Elementarism. Despite this lack of cohesion, De Stijl was probably the most influential of the many avant-garde publications in Europe between the two wars. It was, however, in architecture and the applied arts (including furniture design and typography), rather than painting and sculpture, that it had its greatest influence —notably at the Bauhaus and in the clean-lined architectural style known as ‘International Modern’, of which Rietveld's Schröder House in Utrecht (1924) is an early and famous example.

Stijl, De. Literally The Style. Supposedly derived from Semper's Der Stil (1861–3), erroneously believed to advocate Materialism and Functionalism, it was a Dutch artistic movement and name of a journal founded by van Doesburg in 1917. Other members included the painter Piet Mondrian (1872–1944), Rietveld, Oud, and van't Hoff. It was influenced by Cubism, by Neo-Plasticism, and by a Calvinistic concern with objectivity, simplicity, and truth, and, like many C20 movements, was antihistorical and antagonistic to tradition. It proposed an abstracted clarity of expression, wholly divorced from Nature, advocated straight lines, pure planes, right angles, primary colours, and decomposed cubes, and was one of the most powerful influences on architecture between the World Wars, especially on the Bauhaus and the International Modern Movement. Early architectural works of the De Stijl group included van't Hoff's Huis ter Heide, Utrecht (1916—clearly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright's work), Oud's projected but unrealized distillery at Purmerend (1919), and van Eesteren's and van Doesburg's axonometric studies for a house (1923). However, the paradigm of De Stijl architecture was the celebrated Schröder House, Utrecht, by Rietveld (1921–4), with its slab-like elements, flat roof, primary colours, and angular construction. Other architects influenced by De Stijl were Mies van der Rohe (especially his Barcelona Pavilion of 1928–9), Eisenman, and Portoghesi.

Bibliography

M. Friedman (ed.) (1982);
Jaffé (1956);
Overy (1969);
Overy et al. (1988);
Padovan (2002);
Petersen (ed.) (1968);
Stijl (1998);
Jane Turner (1996);
Troy (1983);
Warncke (1994);
Zevi (1974)

de Stijl [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 and Piet Mondrian . 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 and Gerrit Rietveld . 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’) Group of modern artists that originated in the Netherlands in 1917. They were associated with the eponymous art periodical co-founded by Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. De Stijl's aesthetic was an austere use of bold, vertical and horizontal lines, often breaking up primary colours. It was especially influential in architecture, informing the work of Gerrit Rietveld.

De Stijl. See stijl.

De Stijl. See Stijl.

De Stijl. See STIJL.

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