1883 -1931 · De Stijl, abstraction and synthesis of the arts

Orthogonal plans, dynamic diagonals and De Stijl review make Theo van Doesburg one of the great organizers of the European avant-garde.

Theo van Doesburg, name adopted by Christian Emil Küpper, was born in Utrecht in 1883 and died in Davos in 1931. Initially a figurative painter, he gradually discovered cubism and transformed the observation of reality into abstract structures. Composition VIII, The Cow, makes this method visible: the animal is analyzed, simplified then reconstructed into relationships of plans and colors. In 1917, he founded the magazine De Stijl, around which Piet Mondrian, Bart van der Leck, Vilmos Huszar, JJP Oud and other creators met. Painter, architect, typographer, poet and theorist, he made this publication an international network intended to unite art and life through the straight line, the rectangle, primary colors and asymmetrical balance. Rhythm of a Russian dance translates movement into sequences of verticals and horizontals. In the 1920s, his collaborations with Cornelis van Eesteren extended these principles to architectural space. Van Doesburg then introduced elementarism and diagonal, which his countercompositions used to disrupt the static balance of neoplasticism. The decor of the Aubette in Strasbourg, designed with Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Jean Arp, achieves this ambition on the scale of a complete environment. A tireless agitator, he links De Stijl to the Bauhaus, Dada and European constructivism. The decor of the Aubette in Strasbourg, designed with Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Jean Arp, achieves this ambition on the scale of a complete environment. A tireless agitator, he links De Stijl to the Bauhaus, Dada and European constructivism. The selection "Theo van Doesburg" notably highlights regard Composition VIII (The Cow) and Rhythm of a Russian Dance. Its reading favors details.

Van Doesburg is not only looking for a new painting: he constructs a language capable of ordering the painting, the page, the house and modern life.