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Theo van Doesburg

Dutch architect, painter, draughtsman and writer (1883-1931) · Netherlands · Architects · Died at 47

Theo van Doesburg is read about 185 times a day, in 51 languages.

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He founded De Stijl, the Dutch art movement that reduced the world to straight lines, primary colors, and right angles - then spent the 1920s arguing with everyone who tried to bend them.

ArtistsWriter / AuthorPoetryPaintingArchitectureLiteraturePhotographySculpture

A life in dates

1968Sikkens PrizeAward1931Died7 March 19311923“Dada is able to mobilize the optical and dimensional static viewpoint which keeps us imprisoned in our [three-dimensional] illusions.”In their wordsQuote from Van Doesburg's brochure 'What is Dada?????????????????', The Hague, 1923; as quoted in "Theo van Doesburg", Joost Baljeu, Studio

1920“Only a radical cleaning of social and artistic life as, in the domain of art, is already done by Dada, which is anti-sentimental and healthy to the core, since it is anti-art.”In their wordsQuote from Van Doesburg's article: 'Is a Universal Plastic Notion Possible Today?', as cited in 'Bouwkundig weekblad' [a Dutch

1919“Perhaps it was his return to Paris [In June 1919 Piet Mondrian returned to Paris] that was needed to provide him with fresh new possibilities in his work. Invigoration.”In their words24 June 1919Quote from his letter to the Dutch modern architect Oud, 24 June 1919; as quoted in Mondrian, -The Art of Destruction, Carel Blotkamp,

1917“European art [however] has developed from mimetic-ism and only today is arriving at an elementary plastic art.”In their words7 April 1917Quote from van Doesburg's article: 'Great Masters of Art' in Dutch art-magazine Eenheid no. 357, 7 April 1917

1915“Piet Mondrian realizes the importance of line.”In their words6 November 1915Quote from 'Eenheid' [Dutch art-magazine] no. 283, 6 November 1915; as quoted in Theo van Doesburg, Joost Baljeu, Studio Vista, London

1912“..modern destruction begins where architectural structure is opened up and set into motion by colour relationships.”In their wordsQuote in Van Doesburg's article: 'Aantekeningen bij Bijlage 12 (Notes), De Zaag en de goudvischkom van P.Alma', by Theo van Doesburg; in

1883Born30 August 1883

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Theo van Doesburg in military serviceTheo van Doesburg in military serviceTheo van Doesburg in AubetteTheo van Doesburg in AubetteTheo van Doesburg in Davos 01Theo van Doesburg in Davos 01Theo van Doesburg as baby by Wilhelm Küpper Netherlands Institute for Art History 1501 AB12096 (recto)Theo van Doesburg as baby by Wilhelm Küpper Netherlands Institute for Art History 1501 AB12096 (recto)The van Doesburg as baby by Wilhelm Küpper Netherlands Institute for Art History 1501 AB12096 (verso)The van Doesburg as baby by Wilhelm Küpper Netherlands Institute for Art History 1501 AB12096 (verso)TheoVanDoesburg1914TheoVanDoesburg1914International Congress of Progressive ArtistsInternational Congress of Progressive ArtistsInternational Congress of Constructivists and Dadaists in Weimar 01International Congress of Constructivists and Dadaists in Weimar 01

In their own words 10

,
Theo van Doesburg
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. Dada is able to mobilize the optical and dimensional static viewpoint which keeps us imprisoned in our [three-dimensional] illusions.

    1923, Quote from Van Doesburg's brochure 'What is Dada?????????????????', The Hague, 1923; as quoted in "Theo van Doesburg", Joost Baljeu, Studio, Own words

  2. At Weimar [ the Bauhaus art school I have radically overturned everything. This is the famous academy, which now has the most modern teachers!

    Jan 7, 1921, Quote of Van Doesburg, in a letter to B. Koch, 7 January, 1921; as cited in the Stijl Catalogue, 1951, p. 45, Own words

  3. Only a radical cleaning of social and artistic life as, in the domain of art, is already done by Dada, which is anti-sentimental and healthy to the core, since it is anti-art.

    1920, Quote from Van Doesburg's article: 'Is a Universal Plastic Notion Possible Today?', as cited in 'Bouwkundig weekblad' [a Dutch, Own words

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Awards

Sikkens Prize1968

In their orbit 3

About this person

Born Christian Emil Marie Küpper in August 1883, he reinvented himself as Theo van Doesburg and in 1917 launched De Stijl, gathering painters, architects, and designers around a vision of pure geometric abstraction. He wrote, painted, built, and proselytized across Europe, turning the movement into a manifesto with legs. The rigidity that made De Stijl revolutionary also made it combustible: he split with Piet Mondrian over diagonal lines, feuded with collaborators, and pushed the doctrine until it fractured. He died in Switzerland in March 1931, forty-seven years old, having left modern design sharper and less forgiving.

Country
Netherlands
Category
Architects
Type
Architect
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1883 to 1931 · aged 47

Architects from the Netherlands 6

Rem Koolhaas55.2Willem Marinus Dudok53.1Pierre Cuypers55.4Hendrik Petrus Berlage52.8Gerrit Rietveld57.1J. J. P. Oud51.5

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