The de Stijl movement is a new idea of organizing space, born in the war-isolated Holland. The style was a way of breaking out of the standard framework of art and moving toward neoplasticism (Frampton, 1980). The artist Theo van Doesburg can be called the founder of the movement. However, the question of who can be called the leader of the movement remains relevant.
Doesburg introduced abstract geometry to new architectural solutions. He created a solid theoretical basis and developed several layouts (Preece, 2018). He limited himself to projects and did not create buildings that reflected the movement’s tenets. Despite Doesburg’s significant contribution, it is difficult to call him a true leader. Among de Stijl’s followers, several architects were able to bring the designs to reality (Spurr, 2016). Cornelius de Esterne created the Privat Hotel, but Gerrit Rietveld’s work best represents the idea of the movement. Rietveld designed the Schroeder House, embodying as many of de Stijl’s ideas as possible (Van Halem, 2017). However, he cannot be called the leader either, as Rietveld quickly started practice architecture individually.
Perhaps the thought leader of the de Stijl movement should be called the painter Piet Mondrian. Not only did he, along with Doesburg, develop the idea of organizing space, but he also greatly influenced art (Wenderski, 2017). One can argue that Mondrian did not impact architecture directly, but thanks to his work, abstraction has developed rapidly. It is because of his contribution and influence that Mondrian is considered the leader of the movement.
Thus, de Stijl became a new branch of art, born under the influence of Doesburg and his understanding of space. Despite his significant theoretical contribution, the architect G Rietveld was the best person to embody the principles of the movement. And the ideological leader should be called Piet Mondrian, who pushed the public to rethink space because of his paintings.
References
Frampton, K. (1980). Modern architecture: A critical history. Thames and Hudson.
Preece, R. J. (2018). Theo van Doesburg’s space-time construction #3 and composition XX in the painting toward architecture exhibitions (1947-52). Artdesigncafe. Web.
Spurr, D. (2016). The machine aesthetic in Joyce and ‘De Stijl.’ European Joyce Studies, 24, 7-19. Web.
Van Halem, L. (2017). Editorial: Nota bene: De Stijl. The Rijksmuseum Bulletin, 65(2), 122-127. Web.
Wenderski, M. (2017). Cultural mobility in the interwar avant-garde art network: Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Routledge.