Seek Simplicity, Achieve Beauty Understanding De Stijl ( )

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1 Seek Simplicity, Achieve Beauty Understanding De Stijl ( ) Copyright 2008 Designed and typeset by Andrea Andrews Text output in Adobe InDesign; Typeface Utopia Regular, Italic, Semibold

2 Beauty is commonly recognized by the materialistic matter that a person possesses, especially in America where fashion exudes status. High end threads or top of the line pigments make a person the idealized image of beauty. b e a u t y Failing to see past the composition of one s attire, or strategically placed make up results in the failure of recognizing the true beauty they possess in each portion of their being. This sense to detect a conscious beauty is the same awareness the De Stijl movement aimed to achieve through plastic art representations. Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it - Confucius Poster for the international exhibition of La Section d Or, Cubists and Neo-Cubists 01

3 As a central safety zone, it was a prime location for the mixing of artists from all over Europe, as many could not return home. Therefore it seems only logical that the universal art movement would come out of this place as well. l o c a t i o n De Stijl started off in the Netherlands, a neutral territory in the chaotic war zone Europe was during World War I. for clarity, for certainty and for order. Hans Ludwig C. Jaffe The movement was created most notably in the form of a self-titled magazine, De Stijl, in Its overall appeal was that it intended to unify the modern trends of thought (Donald Langmead, 2000, p1) through simplification and universalism. The movement was established by Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondriaan (who dropped the second a in his name when emigrating to the United States [Langmead, 2000, p203] ), Jacobus Johannes Peiter Oud (commonly known as J.J.P. Oud), Jan Wils, Bart van der Leck, Antony Kok and Vilmos Huszar. In regard to the magazine as well as the movement they felt De Stijl filled the necessity for clarity, for certainty and for order. (Hans Ludwig C. Jaffe, 1986, p11)

4 Rendered from Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1930 to make a contribution to the development of a new awareness of beauty. (Langmead, 2000, p67) a w a r e n e s s 03 At the time in art, there was much exploration with this simplified beauty, through explorations by the futurists and cubists. De Stijl took from all the most modern explorations and seeked to make a contribution to the development of a new awareness of beauty. (Langmead, 2000, p67) They used several basic principles, including the rectangular form and grid structure, primary colors (red, blue, yellow, black and grays), as well as machine-aesthetic. All these guidelines stripped the self from an artist s work, adding to the universalism that De Stijl desired. The movement was international in spirit, it was not only intended to affect the Netherlands but the world. Expression through plastic arts was less organic and relied on the simple beauty of the plane, line and primary colors.

5 views from Mondrian s Paris studio The magazine was a valuable tool in the success of the understanding of De Stijl because it allowed the artist interaction with the audience. Prior to this much of the art created by artists were open to the viewer to understand the piece s meaning or purpose, in De Stijl van Doesburg as well as Mondrian discussed their experimentations and intentions of their pieces. Similar to the appeal of clothing and make-up today, this lack of information left room for assumptions to the beauty a piece possessed, De Stijl created the clarity in where the artist saw beauty but still allowed the viewer to find their own sense of it in the composition. The magazine was a corner stone in the foundation of the artistic movement. f o u n d a t i o n The magazine also offered the artist the opportunity to be recognized as the creator of a piece, because the individual was removed in De Stijl artwork signature styles could not be recognized by critics and viewers alike. Though an area for opinionated articles discussing theories of a select few individuals De Stijl. L Architecture Vivante

6 05 The mending glue that held the loose-knit group together was a common mindset and vision. The artists all believed in the notion of the art being simplified and universal but more so that it aim at the realization of a universal law and a universal spirit. (Jaffe, 1986, p5) v i s i o n aim at the realization of a universal law and a universal spirit. (Jaffe, 1986, p5) The principles of attaining this universal law began with the rectangular format and the experimentations with the grid format. Composing horizontals and verticals in arrangements that were dynamic rather than static, alluded feelings of tension in pieces that caused aesthetic interest in viewers. This drastic call for attention was a way to show that even with the basics as content the arrangement of them could induce the same dynamics as organic renderings of subjects.

7 De Stijl shifted the viewing frame that was typical of critics viewing works, it created work that was aimed at being understood by other artists. This shift in viewing was an evident struggle in itself, changing developed notions proves to be a difficult task as we relate it to today and how we view others. Stereotypical thoughts fill our brain when we encounter different people, depending on how they dress, what they accessorize with and essentially how they want us to perceive them. design for a traffic town; facade, cross-section, groundplan and axonometric view, 1929 i n s i g h t De Stijl shifted the viewing frame These standards of thinking were being broken by van Doesburg and the group that was De Stijl in the 1920s.

8 s i m p l i s t i c 07 simplest forms As a step further they also incorporated color in some pieces, but again remained to the simplest forms of implication. The hues used were yellow, red, blue, black and grays; the colors are all the most basic of color theory, for no other combination of colors can result in these and every other color is a product of their mixings. sense of urgency These colors are the also the brightest colors when assembled next to each other and therefore give off a sense of urgency or attract attention. They leave little room to go unnoticed, something to consider when thinking about the concept behind De Stijl, it left no room for misunderstandings. In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow background rendered from Simultaneous Counter-composition, 1929

9 a e s t h e t i c a symbol of the Absolute Idea (Allan Doig, 1986, p40) When the van Doesburg said that they were creating a symbol of the Absolute Idea (Allan Doig, 1986, p40) it was based on the the idea of a beauty that could not be toiled with but just needed to be understood he did not allude to adjusting the forms to fit the mold society had of beauty he just adjusted the way the world saw what was already there. background rendered from Arithmetic Composition, 1930 The designs clarity and precise appeal made it less humanistic and more industrial, it captured the machine aesthetic that was appearing in the art world at the time. The machine presented a more accurate rendering of a standard system and allowed for a unison from artists around the world. This aesthetic was right in line with the basis of the De Stijl mission, it provided the world with a standard understanding of beauty. Today that standard still exists, but it has been manipulated into an image of idealized perfection, from the runways in New York to the strips of Paris the look of beauty now has a face, but not only everyone in America is seeking to adjust their look, the world is.

10 09 Nothing of recognition was really attributed to the movement and van Doesburg s enthusiasm by the world until after his passing. That was when exhibitions in New York were created in honor of the movement. It took that an extended amount of time for the world to realize what van Doesburg saw and lived by for most of the end of his life. That awareness was the basis of the movement. i n t e r n a t i o n a l This awareness that he and the other artists of De Stijl understood was something that all artists knew unconsciously, this attention to beauty that every true artist has always been moved by, the beauty of line, colour and relationship for their own sake and not by what they may represent. (Jaffe, 1986, p103)

11 Once again through the evolution of art and means of expression the absolute idea has withered away into the unconsciousness. pe r c e p t io n Though the De Stijl movement affected all aspects of expression from painting to architecture to music and even into theater, today in some aspects its concepts are forgotten. Although without the explorations of van Doesburg, Mondrian, Oud, etc much of the developments of art today would not exists, because De Stijl affected much of the future movements, such as the Bauhaus, and the dadaists.

12 スタイル lo stile 风格 They made their work understandable to those in the world who were also artists and strayed from the critiques of the uninvolved art critics. The movement was that balance between thousands of ideas gyrating in terrifying acrobatic feats on the high-wires and tight ropes of arts developments. (Doig, 1986, p33) It created the awareness that we all unconsciously possess but fail to recognize, the awareness of bare beauty. Der Stil le style stilen the style u n i v e r s a l i s m 11 De Stijl successfully captured the international spirit and produced some of the most complex arrangements of plastic art. 風格 o estilo The De Stijl movement reached beyond the standards of time and recaptured the reason to create art. el estilo background rendered from Composition, XII, Composition in black and white, 1918

13 m a n i f e s t o The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend. -Henri Bergson De Stijl extends it s hand into modernism by providing for the whole rather than the part. It is about awareness under one concept and understanding of perception. The principles are founded on simplicity and elaborated through experimentation. This artistic philosophy unifies all means of expression and reaches one mind set under all forms of expression. De Stijl is about the style of one s life. Chair by Rietveld, 1917

14 r e f e r e n c e s Baljeu, Joost. Theo van Doesburg. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc, Doig, Allan. Theo van Doesburg, Painting into Architecture, Theory into Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Jaffe, Hans Ludwig C. De Stijl; Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Hardvard University Press, All rights reserved: no part of this book may be reproduced in any form by print, photocopy, or any other means without permission from the author. Langmead, Donald. The Artists of De Stijl: A Guide to the Literature. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, Postma, Frans. 26, Rue Du Départ: Mondrian s Studio in Paris, Berlin: VCH Publishing Group, 1995.