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TheovanDoesburgWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheovanDoesburg
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

TheovanDoesburg(Dutchpronunciation:[tejovnduzbrx],30August18837March1931)was
aDutchartist,whopracticedpainting,writing,poetryandarchitecture.Heisbestknownasthe
founderandleaderofDeStijl.[1][2]

TheovanDoesburg

Contents
1 Earlylife
2 Career
3 TheDeStijlmovement
3.1 PromotingDeStijl
4 ThesplitwithMondrian
5 Architecture,design,andtypography
6 Lastyears
7 Worksandpublications
7.1 Publications
7.2 Works
8 Seealso
9 References
10 Externallinks

Earlylife
TheovanDoesburgwasbornChristianEmilMarieKpperonAugust30,1883,inUtrecht,the
Netherlands,asthesonofthephotographerWilhelmKpperandHenriettaCatherinaMargadant.
Afterashorttraininginactingandsinginghedecidedtobecomeapainter.Healwaysregardedhis
stepfather,TheodorusDoesburg,tobehisnaturalfather,sothathisfirstworksaresignedwithTheo
Doesburg,towhichhelateraddedtheinsertion"van".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Doesburg

TheovanDoesburgasSergeantKpper.c1915.
Born

ChristianEmilMarieKpper
30August1883
Utrecht,Netherlands

Died

7April1931(aged47)
Davos,Switzerland

Nationality Dutch
Knownfor painting,architecture,poetry
Movement DeStijl,Elementarism,Concreteart,
Dadaism

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Career
Hisfirstexhibitionwasin1908.From1912onwards,hesupportedhis
worksbywritingformagazines.Heconsideredhimselftobeamodern
painter,atthattime,althoughhisearlyworkisinlinewiththe
AmsterdamImpressionistsandisinfluencedbyVincentvanGogh,both
instyleandsubjectmatter.Thissuddenlychangedin1913afterreading
WassilyKandinsky'sRckblicke,inwhichhelooksbackathislifeasa
CongressoftheUnionof
painterfrom19031913.Itmadehimrealizetherewasahigher,more
InternationalProgressiveArtistsheld
spirituallevelinpaintingthatoriginatesfromthemindratherthanfrom
atDsseldorf,May1922.
everydaylife,andthatabstractionistheonlylogicaloutcomeofthis.It
wasalreadyin1912thatVanDoesburgwascriticizingFuturisminanart
articlein"Eenheid"no.127,onNovember9,1912,because"Themimeticexpressionofvelocity(whateverits
formmaybe:theaeroplane,theautomobile,andsoon)isdiametricallyopposedtothecharacterofpainting,the
supremeoriginofwhichistobefoundininnerlife".OnNovember6,1915,hewroteinthesamejournal:"
Mondrianrealizestheimportanceofline.Thelinehasalmostbecomeaworkofartinitselfonecannotplay
withitwhentherepresentationofobjectsperceivedwasallimportant.Thewhitecanvasisalmostsolemn.Each
superfluousline,eachwronglyplacedline,anycolorplacedwithoutvenerationorcare,canspoileverything
thatis,thespiritual".[3]

TheDeStijlmovement
Itwaswhilereviewinganexpositionforoneofthesemagazineshewrotefor,in1915(halfwaythroughhistwo
yearserviceinthearmy),thathecameincontactwiththeworksofPietMondrian,whowaseightyearsolder
thanhewas,andhadbythenalreadygainedsomeattentionwithhispaintings.VanDoesburgsawinthese
paintingshisidealinpainting:acompleteabstractionofreality.SoonaftertheexpositionVanDoesburggotin
contactwithMondrian,andtogetherwithrelatedartistsBartvanderLeck,AnthonyKok,VilmosHuszar,and
J.J.P.OudtheyfoundedthemagazineDeStijlin1917.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Doesburg

TheovanDoesburg,Compositionin
Gray(Ragtime),1919,Oilon
canvas,196.559.1cm(3823.3
in),TheSolomonR.Guggenheim
FoundationPeggyGuggenheim
Collection,Venice,1976

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PrincipalcontributorstoDeStijl19171927.

TheovanDoesburgWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

GirlwithRanunculus

PromotingDeStijl
AlthoughDeStijlwasmadeupofmanymembers,VanDoesburgwasthe"ambassador"ofthemovement,promotingitacrossEurope.Hemovedto
Weimarin1922,decidingtomakeanimpressionontheBauhausprincipal,WalterGropius,inordertospreadtheinfluenceofthemovement.
WhileGropiusacceptedmanyofthepreceptsofcontemporaryartmovementshedidnotfeelthatDoesburgshouldbecomeaBauhausmaster.Doesburg
theninstalledhimselfneartotheBauhausbuildingsandstartedtoattractschoolstudentsinterestedinthenewideasofConstructivism.Dadaism,andDe
Stijl.[5]

ThesplitwithMondrian
ThefriendshipbetweenVanDoesburgandMondrianremainedstrongintheseyears,althoughtheirprimarywayofcommunicationwasbyletter.In
1923VanDoesburgmovedtoParistogetherwithhislaterwifeNellyvanMoorsel.Becausethetwomengottoseeeachotheronamuchmoreregular
basisthedifferencesincharacterbecameapparent:Mondrianwasanintrovert,whilevanDoesburgwasmoreflamboyantandextravagant.During1924
thetwomenhaddisagreements,whicheventuallyledtoa(temporary)splitinthesameyear.Theexactreasonforthissplithasbeenapointof
contentionamongarthistoriansusuallythedivergentideasaboutthedirectionsofthelinesinthepaintingshavebeennamedastheprimaryreason:
Mondrianneveraccepteddiagonals,whereasDoesburginsistedonthediagonal'sdynamicaspects,andindeedfeatureditinhisart.Mondrianaccepted
someconceptsofdiagonals,suchasinhis"Lozenge"paintings,wherethecanvaswasrotated45degrees,whilestillmaintaininghorizontallines.In

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Doesburg

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recentyears,however,thistheorygainedcritiquefromarthistorianssuchasCarelBlotkamp,whocitestheir
differentconceptsaboutspaceandtimeasthemainreasonforthesplit.Afterthesplit,VanDoesburglauncheda
newconceptforhisart,Elementarism,whichwascharacterizedbythediagonallinesandrivaledwith
Mondrian'sNeoPlasticism.
In1929thetwomenreconciledwhentheyaccidentallymetinacafinParis.[6]

Architecture,design,andtypography
VanDoesburghadotheractivitiesapartfrompaintingandpromotingDeStijl:hemadeeffortsinarchitecture,
designinghousesforartists,togetherwithGeorgesVantongerlooandSophieTaeuberArphedesignedthe
decorationfortheCafAubetteinStrasbourg.TogetherwithElLissitzkyandKurtSchwitters,VanDoesburg
pioneeredtheeffortstoanInternationalofArtsintwocongressesheldinDsseldorfandWeimar,in1922.A
geometricallyconstructedalphabetVanDoesburgdesignedin1919hasbeenrevivedindigitalformasArchitype
VanDoesburg.ThistypefaceanticipatessimilarlaterexperimentationbyKurtSchwittersinhistypeface
ArchitypeSchwitters.Inthemid1920s,VanDoesburgworkedtogetherwithSchwittersandtheartistKate
Steinitztoproduceaseriesofchildren'sfairytalebooksthatfeaturedunusualtypography,includingHahnepeter
(PetertheRooster,1924),DieMrchenvomParadies(TheFairyTalesofParadise,192425),andDieScheuche
(TheScarecrow,1925).[7]
VanDoesburgalsokeptalinkwithDADA,publishingthemagazineMcanounderthe
heteronymofI.K.Bonset(possiblyananagramof"Ikbenzot",Dutchfor"Iamfoolish").
HealsopublishedDadapoetryunderthesamenameinDeStijl.Underasecond
pseudonym,AldoCamini,hepublishedantiphilosophicalprose,inspiredbytheItalian
representativeofMetaphysicalart,CarloCarr.Intheseworksofliterature,heheavily
opposedindividualism(andthusagainstthemovementoftheTachtigers,realism,and
psychologicalthinking).Hesoughtforacollectiveexperienceofreality.Hisconceptionofintensityhadmuchin
commonwithPaulvanOstaijen'sconceptionofdynamiek.Hewantedtostripwordsoftheirformermeaning,and
givethemanewmeaningandpowerofexpression.Bydoingthis,hetriedtoevokeanewreality,insteadof
describingit.

Lastyears
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Doesburg

TheovanDoesburg,Composition
dcentralise,1924,Gouacheon
board,113/8x111/2inches(28.9x
29.2cm),SolomonR.Guggenheim
Museum,NewYorkBequest,Richard
S.Zeisler,2007

Areconstructionofthedance
hall/cinemadesignedbyTheovan
Doesburg:CinbalattheAubettein
Strasbourg.

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VanDoesburgstayedactiveinartgroupsandthemagazineCercleetCarr,whichheleftin1929."Theplantoproduceamagazinehadbeenbroached
sometimebefore.Itisclearfromthecorrespondencethatinthespringof1928VanDoesburgmadethefirstdesignsforthelayoutoftheperiodical.He
wrotetoJoaquinTorresGarciaonMay281929:Iwillpreparetheblueprintfonouveauplan."[8]ArtConcret,whichhecofoundedin1929,and
AbstractionCration,whichhecofoundedin1931.[9]AttheendofFebruary1931hewasforcedtomovetoDavosinSwitzerlandbecauseofhis
declininghealth.VanDoesburgdidnotrecuperate:onMarch7,1931,hediedofaheartattack.AfterhisdeathNellyvanDoesburgreleasedthelast
issueofDeStijlasamemorialissuewithcontributionsbyoldandnewmembersfromDeStijl.

Worksandpublications
Publications
Baljeu,Joost(1974).TheovanDoesburg.London:StudioVista.ISBN0289703581.
Hoek,ElsBlokhuis,MarleenGoovaerts,IngridKamphuys,Natalieetal.(2000).TheovanDoesburg:OeuvreCatalogus.Utrecht:Centraal
Museum.ISBN9068682555.
Overy,Paul(1969).DeStijl.StudioVista.ISBN0289796229.
White,Michael(2003).DeStijlandDutchmodernism.ManchesterUniversityPress.ISBN0719061628.

Works

WomaninLandscape
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Doesburg

Selfportraitwithhat.1906.

Selfportrait(1915)

Composition,1915
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CompositionI

NeoPlasticism:CompositionVII
(thethreegraces).1917.

Compositionwithwindowwith
colouredglassIII

CountercompositionXIII,1929

Tree

Cardplayers,19161917

Abstractportrait

Mouvementhroque

Seealso
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Doesburg

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DeStijl

References
1."DeStijl".TateGlossary.TheTate.Retrieved20060731.
2.Curl,JamesStevens(2006).ADictionaryofArchitectureandLandscapeArchitecture(Seconded.).OxfordUniversityPress.ISBN0198606788.
3.Doig,Allan(2009)."TheovanDoesburg(ChristianEmilMarieKpper)".MoMATheCollection.MuseumofModernArt.Retrieved20110204.
4."DeStijl".GuggenheimGlossary.GuggenheimMuseum.Retrieved20110204.
5.MagdalenaDrosteBauhausArchive(1Nov2002).TheBauhaus,19191933.Taschen.p.58.ISBN3822821055.
6.Mawer,Simon(January23,2010)."TheovanDoesburg:Forgottenartistoftheavantgarde".TheGuardian.Retrieved20110204.
7.KurtSchwittersIrvinePeacockJackZipes(2009).LuckyHansandOtherMerzFairyTales.PrincetonUniversityPress.pp.1415.ISBN9780691139678.
Retrieved6September2013.
8.LipschutzVilla,Eduardo(1991).TheantagonisticlinkJoaquinTorresGarciaTheovanDoesburg.Amsterdam:InstituteofContemporaryArt/Amsterdam.
ISBN9080096814.
9."GruppeAbstractionCration".Dictionary.KettererKunst.Retrieved20110204.

Externallinks
ScansoftheDeStijlissuewithVanDoesburg'sLetterklankbeelden
(http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/dada/De_Stijl/011/index.htm)
CollectionRijksmuseum(https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/search?
p=1&ps=12&maker=Theo%20van%20Doesburg)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Theo_van_Doesburg&oldid=713480994"
Categories: 1883births 1931deaths Dutcharchitects Dutchpainters Modernpainters DeStijl
ArtistsfromUtrecht Abstractpainters

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