The De Stijl movement
in graphic design began in the Netherlands in the late summer of 1917. Many artists and architects, including Théo
van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian, Bark Anthony van der Leck, Vilmos Huszár, and
Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, founded this movement.
“De Stijl artists sought universal laws of balance and harmony for art, which
could then be a prototype for a new social order” (Meggs, 313). Mondrian and
van Doesburg in particular worked especially hard to further the philosophy of
the movement through their work.
The
philosophy of the De Stijl movement developed from the paintings of Mondrian.
De Stijl artists “believed that beauty arose from the absolute purity of the
work. They sought to purify art by banning naturalistic expression. The content
of their work was to be universal harmony, the order that pervades the
universe” (Megg, 313). They also “sought expression of the mathematical
structure of the universe and the universal harmony of nature” (Megg, 313).
Therefore, their philosophy was to create art that showed the universe in its
most pure and natural form by purifying their artwork to its core.
Mondrian’s
paintings showed this philosophy through his symbolic style developed in 1911.
This style was influenced both by Vincent Van Gough and by the movement of
cubism (Megg 313). Mondrian’s way of embodying the philosophy of the De Stijl
movement was to create art that was “pure, geometric expression” (Megg, 313).
He was especially influenced by the philosopher M. H. J. Shoenmakers, who defined
horizontal and vertical lines as, “the two fundamental opposites shaping our
world”, and the primary colors, red, blue, and yellow, as, ”the three principle
colors” (Megg, 313). Mondrian took to these definitions and incorporated
horizontal and vertical lines, as well as the primary colors almost exclusively
in his work, such as the piece featured below (Fig. 2). Mondrian believed that, “the
cubists had not accepted the logical consequences of their discoveries; this
was the evolution of abstraction toward its ultimate goal, the expression of
pure reality” (Megg, 313).
(Fig. 1) De Stijl artist Piet Mondrian
(Fig. 2) Piece by Piet Mondrian.
(Source http://karolisbikinas.blogspot.com/2012/02/piet-mondrian.html)
Théo van
Doesburg was another De Stijl artist who applied the philosophy of the De Stijl
movement to “architecture, sculpture, typography and design” (Megg, 314). Along
with his own personal art, van Doesburg also worked at editing and publishing De Stijl, a journal that from 1917 to
1931 worked to spread the philosophy of the De Stijl movement around the world,
to a bigger and broader audience. His idea for this was that “the spirit of the
art could then permeate society through architecture, product, and graphic
design” (Megg, 314).
(Fig. 3) De Stijl artist Théo van Doesburg
(Source: http://www.jbdesign.it/idesignpro/Theo%20Van%20Doesburg.html)
Van Doesburg utilized
many of the same methods as Mondrian in his work in order to spread the
philosophy of De Stijl. In his poster design and typographic letter form design
especially, van Doesburg utilized the horizontal and vertical lines that also
appeared in Mondrian’s work, as well as the use of primary colors. In his
letter forms especially, curved lines were completely eliminated, as can be seen
in the example below (Fig. 4), and sans-serif fonts were favored (Megg, 315). In his
architectural designs, van Doesburg utilized “planes in space with dynamic
asymmetrical relationships” (Megg, 315).
(Fig. 4) Letter form design by Théo van Doesburg
(Source: http://natasha-modernism.blogspot.com/2011/05/inspired-by-geometric-art-and.html)
(Fig. 5) Architectural design by Théo van Doesburg
(Source: http://www.jbdesign.it/idesignpro/Theo%20Van%20Doesburg.html)
While the De Stijl
movement did not survive past the death of van Doesburg in 1931, it’s
philosophy continued for many years, and opened the doors to new art movements
to take the lead in creating a new social order.
Megg, Philip B. Megg's
History of Graphic Design. 5th ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 2012. 200-202. Print.
