De Stijl essays

De Stijl essays Although the De Stijl movement was not the renowned development that cubism or surrealism turned out to be, it nevertheless carried quite an influence into the art world and the design of architectural workings. Despite a fairly fleeting exposure, the De Stijl group could possibly be considered the most important contribution made by the Netherlands towards the development of modern art. The aftermath of the first world war left many counties in a desperate state of repair, however, do to the Netherlands neutral stance during the war they were left fairly undisturbed, physically at least, lending a perfect situation for new ideas to evolve from stirring Dutch minds. Though the movement disseminated throughout Europe and America, the movement was meant to be and almost had to originate form the Netherlands itself. For generations the Netherlands had been built up with industry and mechanical structures. Precision and accuracy were a part of the culture, straight lines and right a ngles could be seen everywhere. The very nature of Hollands society could not help but fuel the inspiration for the perfection and consistency of the De Stijl movement. The 14 year stint of De Stijl lasted actively from 1917-1931. Originally founded by Theo Van Doesburg, other main artists like Piet Mondrian, Van der leck, and Gerrit Rietveld formed together with similar ideas and concepts to further and refine into one concept: the style. The group gained more unity with the 1918 publication of the De Stijl manifesto in their own De Stijl magazine. Their manifesto urged their call to advance and distance themselves form traditional means of artistic portrayal and undertake a new outlook. The first point of the manifesto reads: There is an old and a new consciousness of the age. The old one is directed towards the individual. The new one is directed towards the universal. The conflict of the individual and the universal is ref...