De Stijl
Print 
Tell a friend 
Bookmark and share 
De Stijl (1917 – 1931), from the Dutch for ‘the style’, was a Dutch artistic movement with an artistic philosophy known as neoplasticism.
Simplicity and abstraction
In general, De Stijl proposed ultimate simplicity and abstraction, both in architecture and painting, by using only straight lines and rectangular forms. Moreover, their formal vocabulary was limited to the primary colours of red, yellow and blue and the three primary values of black, white and grey. The works avoided symmetry and attained aesthetic balance by the use of opposition.
Famous artists
Led by painter and critic Theo van Doesburg, the group included famous artists such as Piet Mondrian and Gerrit Rietveld, who held true to the principles of De Stijl even after its discontinuance in 1931.