Theo van Doesburg (, 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He was married to artist, pianist and choreographer

Nelly van Doesburg Nelly van Doesburg (née Petronella Johanna van Moorsel; The Hague, 27 July 1899 – Meudon, 1 October 1975) was a Dutch avant-garde musician, dancer, artist and art collector. She performed under her dadaïst alias Pétro van Doesburg and used ...

Early life

Theo van Doesburg was born Christian Emil Marie Küpper on 30 August 1883, in Utrecht, Netherlands, as the son of the photographer and Henrietta Catherina Margadant. After a short period of training in acting and singing, he decided to become a storekeeper. He always regarded his stepfather, Theodorus Doesburg, to be his natural father, so that his first works are signed with Theo Doesburg, to which he later added "van".

Career

His first exhibition was in 1908. From 1912 onwards, he supported his works by writing for magazines. He considered himself to be a modern painter, at that time, although his early work is in line with the Amsterdam Impressionists and is influenced by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

, both in style and subject matter. This suddenly changed in 1913 after reading Wassily Kandinsky's ''Rückblicke'', in which he looks back at his life as a painter from 1903 to 1913. It made him realize there was a higher, more spiritual level in painting that originates from the mind rather than from everyday life, and that abstraction is the only logical outcome of this. It was already in 1912 that Van Doesburg was criticizing Futurism in an art article in ''Eenheid'' no. 127, on 9 November 1912, because "The mimetic expression of velocity (whatever its form may be: the aeroplane, the automobile, and so on) is diametrically opposed to the character of painting, the supreme origin of which is to be found in inner life". On 6 November 1915, he wrote in the same journal: "Mondrian realizes the importance of line. The line has almost become a work of art in itself; one can not play with it when the representation of objects perceived was all-important. The white canvas is almost solemn. Each superfluous line, each wrongly placed line, any color placed without veneration or care, can spoil everything—that is, the spiritual".

The De Stijl movement

It was while reviewing an exhibition for one of these magazines he wrote for, in 1915 (halfway through his two-year service in the army), that he came in contact with the works of Piet Mondrian, who was eight years older than he was, and had by then already gained some attention with his paintings. Van Doesburg saw in these paintings his ideal in painting: a complete abstraction of reality. Soon after the exhibition Van Doesburg got in contact with Mondrian, and together with related artists Bart van der Leck, , Vilmos Huszár and Jacobus Oud they founded the magazine '' De Stijl'' in 1917.

Promoting De Stijl

Although De Stijl was made up of many members, Van Doesburg was the "ambassador" of the movement, promoting it across Europe. He moved to

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

in 1922, deciding to make an impression on the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

principal, Walter Gropius, to spread the influence of the movement. While Gropius accepted many of the precepts of contemporary art movements he did not feel that Doesburg should become a Bauhaus master. Doesburg then installed himself near to the Bauhaus buildings and started to attract school students interested in the new ideas of Constructivism,

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

, and De Stijl.

The split with Mondrian

The friendship between Van Doesburg and Mondrian remained strong in these years, although their primary means of communication was by letter. In 1923 Van Doesburg moved to Paris, together with his later wife Nelly van Moorsel. Because the two men got to see each other on a much more regular basis the differences in character became apparent: Mondrian was an introvert, while van Doesburg was more flamboyant and extravagant. During 1924 the two men had disagreements, which eventually led to a temporary split that year. The exact reason for the split has been a point of contention among art historians; usually the divergent ideas about the directions of the lines in the paintings have been named as the primary reason: Mondrian never accepted diagonals, whereas Doesburg insisted on the dynamic aspects of the diagonal, and indeed featured it in his art. Mondrian accepted some concepts of diagonals, such as in his "Lozenge" paintings, where the canvas was rotated 45 degrees, while still maintaining horizontal lines. In recent years, however, this theory has been challenged by art historians such as

Carel Blotkamp Carel Hendrik Blotkamp (born 1945) is a Dutch artist, art historian, writer and critic. He was a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam between 1982 and 2007. Apart from his academic career Blotkamp is known for his work in art critique, wri ...

, who cites the artist's different concepts about space and time. After the split, Van Doesburg launched a new concept for his art, Elementarism, which was characterized by the diagonal lines and which rivaled Mondrian's

Neo-Plasticism ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body ...

. In 1929 the two men reconciled when they accidentally met in a café in Paris.

Architecture, design, and typography

Van Doesburg had other activities apart from painting and promoting De Stijl: he made efforts in architecture, designing houses for artists, together with Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Hans Arp he designed the decoration for the Aubette entertainment complex in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

. Together with

El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...

and

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, paint ...

, Van Doesburg pioneered the efforts to an International of Arts in two congresses held in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

and Weimar, in 1922. A geometrically constructed alphabet Van Doesburg designed in 1919 has been revived in digital form as

Architype Van Doesburg Architype Van Doesburg is a geometric sans-serif typeface based upon a 1919 alphabet designed by Theo van Doesburg, a cofounder of the De Stijl art movement. The digital revival shown at right was produced by Freda Sack and David Quay of The Found ...

. This typeface anticipates similar later experimentation by

in his typeface

Architype Schwitters Architype Schwitters is a geometric sans-serif typeface based upon a 1927 phonetic alphabet designed by Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948). The digital revival, shown at right, was produced by Freda Sack and David Quay of The Foundry. Like many new ex ...

. In the mid 1920s, Van Doesburg worked together with Schwitters and the artist

Kate Steinitz Kate Steinitz (2 August 1889 - 7 April 1975), informally known as “the Mama of Dada,” played a significant role in the history of art on a number of levels: in the creation of her own art works, as a preserver and collector of the art of her ...

to produce a series of children's fairy-tale books that featured unusual typography, including ''Hahnepeter'' (''Peter the Rooster'', 1924), ''Die Märchen vom Paradies'' (''The Fairy Tales of Paradise'', 1924–25), and ''Die Scheuche'' (''The Scarecrow'', 1925). Van Doesburg also kept a link with Dada, publishing the magazine ''Mécano'' under the heteronym of I. K. Bonset (possibly derived from "Ik ben zot", Dutch for "I am foolish"). He also published Dada poetry under the same name in De Stijl. Under a second pseudonym, Aldo Camini, he published anti-philosophical prose, inspired by the Italian representative of

Metaphysical art Metaphysical painting ( it, pittura metafisica) or metaphysical art was a style of painting developed by the Italian artists Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà. The movement began in 1910 with de Chirico, whose dreamlike works with sharp contra ...

Carlo Carrà Carlo Carrà (; February 11, 1881 – April 13, 1966) was an Italian painter and a leading figure of the Futurist movement that flourished in Italy during the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to his many paintings, he wrote a number ...

. In these works of literature, he heavily opposed

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...

(and thus against the movement of the Tachtigers,

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: * Classical Realism *Literary realism, a mov ...

, and psychological thinking). He sought for a collective experience of reality. His conception of intensity had much in common with

Paul van Ostaijen Paul van Ostaijen (22 February 1896 – 18 March 1928) was a Belgian Dutch-language poet and writer. Nickname Van Ostaijen was born in Antwerp to Dutch father and Flemish mother. His nickname was ''Mister 1830'', derived from his habit of walk ...

's conception of ''dynamiek''. He wanted to strip words of their former meaning, and give them a new meaning and power of expression. By doing this, he tried to ''evoke'' a new reality, instead of describing it.

Last years

Van Doesburg stayed active in art groups and the magazine ''

Cercle et Carré Cercle et Carré (Circle and Square) was a group of abstract artists in Paris, founded 1929 by Joaquín Torres García and Michel Seuphor. The group published a journal with the same name. In 1930 they organised an exhibition in Paris showing 13 ...

'', which he left in 1929. "The plan to produce a magazine had been broached some time before. It is clear from the correspondence that in the spring of 1928 Van Doesburg made the first designs for the layout of the periodical. He wrote to Joaquín Torres-García on May 28, 1929 : I will prepare the blueprint fo nouveau plan."

Art Concret Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of what ...

, which he co-founded in 1929, and Abstraction-Création, which he co-founded in 1931. At the end of February 1931 he was forced to move to Davos in Switzerland because of his declining health. Van Doesburg did not recuperate: on 7 March 1931, he died of a heart attack. After his death Nelly van Doesburg released the last issue of De Stijl as a memorial issue with contributions by old and new members from De Stijl.

Influence

Van Doesburg's work has had significant influence, including that dealing with issues of crossover art, design and architecture. For example, his ''Space-time construction #3'' (1923) was a key work in the

Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art The Miller Company Collection of Abstract Art (c. 1945-55) was formed in Meriden, Connecticut as part of the Miller Company. The collection was formed by then-CEO Burton Tremaine Sr. and his wife, Miller Co. art director Emily Hall Tremaine in c. ...

's ''Painting toward architecture'' exhibition (1947–52, 28 venues). From that time, the work was influential to the practice of noted architect Harry Seidler. In 1992, he acquired the artwork, which was donated to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra in 2010. In a travelling, international exhibition on Seidler's work, Van Doesburg's ''Space time-construction #3'' was shown as a key influence.(c. 2014–15)
When art meets architecture
Sydney Living Museums website. Retrieved 24 March 2019.

Works and publications

Publications

* Baljeu, Joost (1974). ''Theo van Doesburg''. London: Studio Vista. . * Hoek, Els; Blokhuis, Marleen; Goovaerts, Ingrid; Kamphuys, Natalie; et al. (2000). ''Theo van Doesburg: Oeuvre Catalogus''. Utrecht: Centraal Museum. . * Overy, Paul (1969). ''De Stijl''. Studio Vista. . * White, Michael (2003). ''De Stijl and Dutch modernism''. Manchester University Press. .

Works

File:Woman in Landscape by Theo van Doesburg AB4045.jpg, ''Woman in Landscape'' Image:Theo van Doesburg Selfportrait with hat.jpg, ''Self-portrait with hat'', 1906 File:Self-portrait by Theo van Doesburg (1915).jpg, Self-portrait (1915) File:Theo van Doesburg 166.jpg, ''Composition'', 1915 File:Theo van Doesburg Composition I.jpg, ''Composition I'' Image:Theo van Doesburg Composition VII (the three graces).jpg,

: ''Composition VII (the three graces)'', 1917 File:Vandoesburg Counter composition XIII.jpg, ''Counter composition XIII'', 1929 File:Theo van Doesburg - Card players - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Card players'', 1916–1917 File:Theo van Doesburg - Composition with window with coloured glass III.JPG, ''Composition with window with coloured glass III'' File:Theo van Doesburg Tree.jpg, ''Tree'' File:Theo van Doesburg - Geabstraheerd portret - AB4093 - Museum De Lakenhal.jpg, ''Abstract portrait'' File:Theo van Doesburg Mouvement héroïque.jpg, ''Mouvement héroïque''

References

External links

Scans of the ''De Stijl'' issue with Van Doesburg's ''Letterklankbeelden''

Collection Rijksmuseum

Theo van Doesburg Archive: 'Archive of Theo van Doesburg and his wives'

Several original writings and articles by Theo van Doesburg

Many sourced quotes of Theo van Doesburg in: ''De Stijl 1917–1931 – The Dutch Contribution to Modern Art'', by H.L.C. Jaffé
J.M. Meulenhoff, Amsterdam 1956
Biography facts of Theo van Doesburg, in the Dutch R.K.D. Archive, the Hague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doesburg, Theo Van De Stijl 1883 births 1931 deaths Abstract painters Modern painters Artists from Utrecht Dutch male painters 20th-century Dutch architects 20th-century Dutch painters 20th-century Dutch male artists