De Stijl

De Stijl (Dutch; pronounced 'duh-shtile'; literally 'The Style' in English) was an art movement (also known as "neoplasticism", namely, the new plastic art) of the 1920s that sought to express a new Utopian ideal of spiritual harmony and order. It advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour- the vertical and the horizontal directions and the primary colors of red, blue and yellow along with black and white.

Piet Mondrian (Dutch, 1872-1944), the group's most renowned artist, published a manifesto titled Neo-Plasticism in 1920. Painter Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883-1931) published a journal named De Stijl from 1917 to 1928, spreading the theories of the group, which also included the painter George Vantongerloo (Belgian, 1886-1965) and the architects J.J.P. Oud (Dutch, 1890-1963) and Gerrit Rietveld (Dutch, 1888-1965).

In many of the works under this movement, the vertical and the horizontal lines tend to slide past each other and do not intersect- for example some of Mondriaan's paintings, Rietveld's Schröder house and the Red and blue chair .

The movement was influenced by the neoplatonic philosophy of the mathematician M. H. J. Schoenmaekers and his books. The term Neo-Plasticism was also his.

The work of De Stijl exerted tremendous influence on the Bauhaus and the International style as well as clothing and interior design.

Neoplasticists include:

• Piet Mondrian - 1872 - 1944
• Theo van Doesburg 1883-1931
• Ilya Bolotowsky - 1907-1981
• Marlow Moss 1890 - 1958
• Amédée Ozenfant 1886 - 1966
• Max Bill 1908 - 1994
• Jean Gorin 1899-1981
• Burgoyne Diller 1906-1965
• Georges Vantongerloo 1886-1965

For the 2000 indie rock album by The White Stripes, see De Stijl (album)