de stijl

What is being modern is about? This word, calls us to keep pace with today in its meaning, became the order of business by some people in the each period of art which evolved as of today. It was not the first time, two completely foreign soul, Van Doesburg and Mondrian, meeting in Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and became one in the basis of an idea, to desire to have people pursue their agendas. Each artist wants to present the world in their work, not as it is, but as it should be. Maybe most of the times, when the first-thought idea is the same, but then the outcome is different. That is how De Stijl movement be formed. Whilst World War One alters the humanity, and turn the pain they are having into horror, death; it was not to be expected that the artists would stay exactly the same. Stairs inspired by Mondrian’s works, Lahey, Netherlands

Van Doesburg and Mondrian, as normal individuals, defined life as lines who are following each other in a flat plane and they argued that only black and white existed. 1 They started a newspaper, during the first years of the war, to propagate themselves, most importantly their ideas. 2 Of course this movement did not stay only on the canvas paintins. The ideas on the works of Mondrian, in which he used three main colors; red, blue and yellow and three main values; black, gray and white were then jumped into the architecture. 3 Gerrit Rietveld, who could prove to Van Doesburg that the machines could produce pieces of artworks, was an architect who believed in the basics of the movement. As he spent his youth in his father’s wood atelier, he designed Red and Blue Chair, which then became one of the key figures of De Stijl and Schröder House. 4

Seing this chair, Van Doesburg stated that he was mixed up by how machines could produce such a chair which owns the abstraction of the naturality, and degraded into flatlines both lay claim to aesthetics and main colors. 5 After the war, ideas of almost all artists started to change. Now all they want is to “redesign the society.” 6 Just like all other movements that supported modernity, De Stijl was also a shortly lived one. With Van Doesburg dying, the keystone of the group was gone. 7 This short adventure coming to an end, did not provided the movement to be forgotten, on the contrary it ensured that it is reminded. For many years, artists continued to produce works under the influence of these principles. De Stijl also was in fashion, music and literature works. A fashion designer who was forced to join the army during the war, Yves Saint Laurent, brought a new identity to his brand by designing a new collection based on Mondrian’s ideas. 8

So what is being modern is about? To not forget about the past, to know when and where are we living in and most importantly to have a soul. Creating a modern design is not making the abstraction of nature to degrade it into most basic shapes; it is to feel, to make feeled.

Composition with Red Blue and Yellow, Piet Mondrian

1 Righini, Paul (2000). Thinking Architecturally: An Introduction to the Creation of Form and Place. Kenwyn: Juta and Company Ltd. Pages 139-140. Retrieved June 9, 2019. 2 Rawsthorn, Alice (October 17, 2010) “Design’s Odd Man Out Gets Moment in the Sun”. The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2019. 3 Emanuel, Muriel (Ed.) (2016). Contemporary Architects. London: Springer. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 4 Kèuper, M., Rietveld, G. T., Zijl, I. v., Centraal Museum (Utrecht Netherlands), Nederlands Architectuurinstituut., & Centre Georges Pompidou. (1992). Gerrit th. Rietveld, 1888-1964: The complete works. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press. Retrieved May 26, 2018. 5 Russell, F., & Read, J. (1980). A century of chair design. New York: Rizzoli. Retrieved May 27, 2018. 6 Wagner, Thomas (June 18, 2012). “Nodes: Rietveld and the revolution of space – part 1”. Stylepark. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 7 Barcio, Philip (August 29, 2016). “Theo van Doesburg as De Stijl Ambassador”. Ideelart. Retrieved June 9, 2019. 8 Mawer, Simon (June 22, 2010). “Theo van Doesburg: Forgotten artist of the avant garde”. The Guardian. Retrieved June 9, 2019. References