De Stijl originated in the Netherlands and was pioneered by Theo van Doesburg in the mid 1910’s. One reason the movement was concentrated to the Netherlands more so than other movements like Cubism was because the Dutch could not leave there country having not participated in the war. De Stijl was l
lead by Theo van Doesburg
Theo van Doesburg – Arrhythmic Composition, 1930
Huszar help put down the foundation of De Stijl. Their philosophy was all about stripping down form to its basic elements. Not even circles were aloud. Everything had to be rigidly square and flat.
Vilmos Huszar – The Mecano Dancer, 1922
The most famous artists associated with De Stijl however, was Piet Mondrian, who painted a black grid and coloured in the squares with the primary colours. He really enjoyed this and spent his whole life pursuing it’s limitations.
Piet Mondrian – Composition in Red Yellow and Blue, 1921
I suppose De Stijl is a reflection of how constricting war is. As the artists involved in this movement would have either been involved in World War II or affected by it it, De Stijl serves to illustrate how cold and relentlessly abhorrent war is.
Theo van Doesburg – composition VII, 1917
De Stijl’s strict attitude towards their principles of design constricted them to only producing non-representational art. But it was not constrained to this time period and De Stijl has gone on to inspire future artists and architecture. The Rietveld Schroeder House is a brilliant example.
Bart Van der Leck – Composition no.7, 1917
Contextual Influences 